Hawks fall to Preds, but Dach's return could be a boost down stretch

Remind everyone in that Blackhawks locker room to never sit down at a poker table with Jeremy Colliton.

He could be sitting there with a full house or high-card 9 and his steely expression would never change.

Is he bluffing? Is he stacked?

Who knows.

With that in mind, it's no surprise Colliton never let on that Kirby Dach was going to destroy his 4-5 month timeline to return from a broken wrist by 30 days. Dach made his season debut during a 3-1 loss to the Predators at the United Center on Saturday and was perhaps Colliton's best player all night.

"We can play much better," said Colliton, who watched Nashville put 30 shots on goal through 40 minutes.

The Hawks were actually within 2-1 thanks to a Pius Suter goal at 17:33 of the second period, but an early third-period turnover by Calvin de Haan in front of the Hawks net proved costly. Mikael Granlund made it 3-1 at 51 seconds after tapping in a perfect pass from Luke Kunin, who had snared de Haan's ill-advised clearing attempt.

The loss could be a costly one for the Hawks (16-14-5), but Dach's return is the bigger story for now.

"He did well. Skated well," Colliton said. "Was aggressive and won some races and made some plays and obviously you can see he's going to help us. And he'll keep getting better.

"So happy for him."

Colliton eased Dach in by starting him at third-line center with Mattias Janmark and Dylan Strome as his wingers. Dach kept moving up the depth chart, though, as it became clear he was outplaying nearly all of his teammates.

The second-year forward, who was also on the top power-play unit, saw more than 20 minutes of ice time. His best moment came on his second shift when he nearly scored on an end-to-end rush on Jusse Saros.

"It felt good," he said. "Obviously I have some things I'd like to get better at. There's still another level that I can take my game to to help the team win here."

Dach fractured his wrist playing for Team Canada in World Juniors in December. It was originally thought that he may play in only a handful of games, so his return is a bonus on a couple of levels.

• It figures to boost the Hawks' playoff chances as they attempt to beat out the Predators, Blue Jackets and Stars for the fourth seed in the Central Division.

• It will certainly help with his development. Getting 20-plus games in is obviously a lot better than 5-6.

"When he got hurt, we thought maybe we could get him for a few games at the end," Colliton said. "But he's worked hard at it. We wanted to be careful not to play him too early, but at the same time, he's ready to go.

"Great for our team, but great for him individually to get in and continue his progression that's been so fun to watch."

Dach never doubted he'd be back this season. He knew what he had to do, put his "head down and went to work." The loss muted the excitement level a bit, but the way his teammates welcomed him back is something he'll never forget.

"Those are your teammates, your brotherhood in that room, so any time you're losing a player to an injury it's never fun to see and you're always happy to see them back," Dach said. "I was welcomed back with some jokes and stuff like that. It was good to be on the team again."