Saad is beginning to look like the player Blackhawks fans expected

So this is why Stan Bowman brought Brandon Saad back to the Blackhawks.

For his power, speed and goal-scoring ability.

For his tenacity along the boards. For some net-front presence.

And for the ability to keep other teams off the scoreboard with heads-up play in the defensive zone.

Many of these traits were either absent or in short supply last season, but Saad seems to have found his mojo again and is helping the Hawks look like a team that might stick around the playoff picture for a while.

"He was playing pretty good before I got here," coach Jeremy Colliton said after Saad scored the Hawks' second goal in a 3-1 victory over Minnesota on Sunday. "Unfortunately, he got injured, but he stepped right in and (he's) arguably (been) our best player every game he's played since he came back."

When Saad was traded to Columbus for Artem Anisimov after the Hawks won the Cup in 2015, many shook their heads and wondered how they could give up such a spectacularly gifted 22-year-old forward. But Saad's unwillingness to accept a bridge contract forced Bowman's hand and thus the trade was made.

Saad scored 55 goals for the Blue Jackets in two seasons, but he had a tough time playing for John Tortorella, who was named coach on Oct. 21, 2015, after Columbus started 0-7-0.

We all know what happened next. Two months after the Predators swept the Hawks out of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bowman reacquired Saad by sending Artemi Panarin to Columbus.

At the time it looked like a brilliant move. But while Panarin (27 goals, 55 assists) didn't miss a beat last season by leading Columbus to a playoff berth, Saad scored just 12 goals in the last 76 games and finished with a career-worst 7.6 shooting percentage for the last-place Hawks.

Saad struggled at the beginning of this season as well, going without a goal in the first eight games. It got so bad that then-coach Joel Quenneville forced him to wear a white jersey during a few practices in mid-October.

Lately, though, it's been a totally different story and Saad is looking like the player we all remember from four seasons ago.

"He's just doing so many other things right and he's such a powerful skater," said Jonathan Toews. "When he goes out there and he demands the puck, it's fun to watch him because it's so hard to take it off him."

Saad did absolutely everything Sunday and had a particularly strong first period. Here are a few examples:

• Second shift: Skating down the left side of the offensive zone, Saad took a pass from Patrick Kane and fired off a wrist shot that goalie Alex Stalock barely fended off with his blocker.

• Third shift: Saad helped the Hawks win an offensive zone draw and later skated them out of the defensive zone after picking up an errant pass.

• Fifth shift: This was a really impressive 48 seconds as Saad fed Toews with a nice cross-ice pass, which nearly created a golden opportunity for Dominik Kahun, but Toews' pass got deflected. Saad later won a puck battle behind Stalock, which led to scoring chances by Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane.

• Sixth shift: After using fantastic awareness to chip ahead a bank pass off the boards from Alexandre Fortin, Saad turned on the jets, outraced Wild D-man Matt Dumba to the puck and pulled off a gorgeous forehand-backhand move to beat Stalock, giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead. "Speed's hard to stop when you're going straight ahead," Eddie Olczyk said on the WGN telecast.

Saad didn't rest on his laurels after that, either.

The big man established some net-front presence early in the third period; he nearly scored with 11:36 left in the game after accepting a drop pass from Kane and ripping a shot at Stalock; and he blocked a Nick Seeler attempt with 8:32 remaining as the Hawks nursed a 2-1 lead.

"Take the goal out of it," Olczyk said after that block. "He's had a strong game in a lot of different areas."

Saad now has 6 goals on the season, all in his last 11 games.

And Panarin, you ask? Well, he has 5 goals and none in the last 10 games for the 12-7-2 Blue Jackets.

Not that Colliton cares what Panarin is doing. He's just happy Saad is helping his team win hockey games.

"That's a conversation for me (that) doesn't matter," Colliton said when asked what he thinks of how the trade looks now. "I look at (Saad) as what he can bring to our team.

"Tremendously valuable in a lot of different ways. Character guy. Can play him (in) all situations. … He just gets pucks back, he goes to the net, he goes to the hard areas, he wins battles on the wall.

"That's the kind of guy you can win with."

Second star

Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was named the NHL's second star of the week Monday. Crawford went 2-0-1, stopping 98 of 100 shots and posting a 0.65 goals-against average. Columbus' Cam Atkinson (5 goals, 3 assists in three games) was the No. 1 star.