Blackhawks open homestand with 3-2 win over Panthers

Coming off a brutal 1-5-0 road trip, the Blackhawks opened a six-game homestand by beating the Florida Panthers for the first time this season.

The 3-2 victory is a good omen for the Hawks, who watched a 9-point lead over Columbus completely disappear over the past two weeks.

If the Hawks can earn a second straight playoff berth - something nobody predicted when this campaign kicked off - it should help speed up the rebuilding process. Still, with 23 games remaining, coach Jeremy Colliton admitted he's not exactly dwelling on the what may or may not happen come mid-May.

"I'm not sure how often I'm bringing it up. I'm sure we do talk about it," Colliton said. "It's more talking about how each game is important and we've got to have the proper urgency with our preparation and how we approach it. I mean everyone knows where we fit in the standings."

Which is now 2 points ahead of the Blue Jackets for the fourth and final spot in the Central Division. Dominik Kubalik, Pius Suter and Carl Soderberg scored for the Hawks, and Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves. Kubalik, who extended his point streak to six, has 11 goals and 15 assists. Suter (9 goals) snapped a six-game point drought.

Patrick Kane had 2 assists, the second coming on the power play when Soderberg tapped in his pass to make it 3-0 at 4:22 of the second period.

Florida, which was without Aleksander Barkov, got its second goal from Alex Wennberg with 4:38 remaining. The Hawks then staved off a few late chances to improve to 15-13-5.

"We were engaged and hard working and did a good job of taking control of the game early on," Colliton said. "We won the game in the first half. Obviously we'd love to snuff them out ... and not allow them to get back in it. ... We did a decent job of getting the game back under control."

Brandon Hagel really stood out in this one. The rookie helped open the scoring at 6:24 of the first period after stealing the puck in the neutral zone and feathering a perfect pass to Kubalik. He also blocked a dangerous shot from MacKenzie Weeger with 3:10 remaining.

"He's growing confidence with the puck," Colliton said. "He made a heckuva play to Kubby."

This homestand, which continues with a rematch against the Panthers on Thursday, includes two games each against Nashville and Carolina. It's imperative the Hawks rattle off some victories during this stretch because their last eight games are against Tampa Bay (1), Florida (2), Carolina (3) and Dallas (2).

"Of course you're watching it right now," Kane said of the playoff picture. "The best thing we can do is play like we did tonight and control our own destiny and keep winning games. We should be fine."

Last year, the Hawks played nine postseason games as the ousted Edmonton before getting eliminated by Vegas in five games. A return this year - even if it is a short series against one of the top teams - is something Colliton knows would be good for his squad.

"(Last year) was huge," he said. "For a lot of different reasons. Individual development, development of our team, belief in what we're trying to build, experience playing in those types of game.

"We want to earn the chance to go through that again and obviously progress further."