Goalies, Kane still reliable
Just when it seemed time to give up on the Blackhawks and start making vacation plans for early April, they lured fans back in.
The Hawks somehow came back from a difficult two-game trip with a pair of tense victories, pulling them within three points of the final Western Conference wild-card spot and restoring fan interest just when the United Center started to have all the excitement of a public library.
Hold off on buying playoff tickets. The Hawks are still in last place, and a healthy dose of skepticism should accompany any win, including Thursday’s 4-3 overtime victory against the Bruins, one of the NHL’s best teams.
But the Hawks should stick around long enough to keep the season interesting. Here are five reasons they will stay in the playoff picture and perhaps make their first postseason appearance in three seasons.
1. Patrick Kane is a sure thing.
It’s remarkable that the Hawks haven’t fallen by the wayside with Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat, Erik Gustafsson and Andrew Shaw all having dramatically worse offensive seasons than expected.
The reason is Kane, who is once again doing what the Hawks have come to expect of him — and what opponents fear. He leads the Hawks by a wide margin in goals (14) and assists (21) and is averaging more than a point per game.
Jeremy Colliton wisely has kept Kane’s minutes somewhat in check, preserving him for the stretch run when he might start playing 23-24 minutes per game. Kane is down to 21 minutes, 28 seconds, just off the pace of his career-high 22:29 last season. He has 35 points in 29 games, just shy of a 100-point pace but close to last season, when he finished with 110.
As long as Kane remains healthy, the Hawk will have a chance.
2. Their goaltenders will keep them in (nearly) every game.
Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford finally proved to be human this season as each endured a minor slump over the last two weeks.
Lehner was so dominant it was shocking to see him get pulled during a loss to the Avalanche after allowing five goals on 14 shots and failing to win three straight starts. Crawford wasn’t pulled but also posted three straight subpar efforts before returning to beat the Devils in a shootout on Friday. He stopped 29 of 30 shots and stonewalled Jack Hughes’ shootout attempt to seal the win.
Neither is the sure-thing level of Kane, but the dominant 1-2 tandem that general manager Stan Bowman envisioned when he signed Lehner has come to fruition. There’s every reason to believe Lehner and Crawford will continue to play well during the final 53 games of the season.
3. The other Western Conference contenders have been just as streaky as the Blackhawks.
Maybe the best thing going for the Hawks is the mediocrity in the Western Conference this season.
The Wild, Canucks, Sharks and Flames each had 32 points heading into Saturday’s games and were tied for the final wildcard spot. The Predators and the Hawks are just below them with 29 points.
While it seemed as if the Predators were a sure playoff team heading into the season, they entered Saturday having gone 4-7-4 over their last 15 games. The Wild were on an 11-game point streak after staring 6-11-1, and the Flames, Canucks and Sharks have been just as hot and cold.
One of these teams likely will emerge from the pack to stake a claim on the final wild-card spot before too long.
And the Hawks are in a stronger position than they were at this time last season, when they were in the midst of their second eight-game losing streak, and seem to have a much stronger team — if they get healthy.
4. The Blackhawks’ slumping players won’t stay down all season.
Two years ago, Hawks fans feared that Jonathan Toews was entering the twilight of his career after a 52-point season, his worst other than the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. He assuaged those fears with a career-best 81 points last season — but only temporarily, as it turns out.
With five goals and 10 assists, Toews is on pace for 42 points, and his 6.8 shot percentage, which is less than half his career average of 13.9%, suggests it’s just a matter of time before he breaks out.
Meanwhile, Alex DeBrincat is starting to get hot. He has goals in consecutive games for the first time this season after a 12-game drought and is displaying the confidence and shot-making ability that led to 69 goals in his first two seasons.
The Hawks also have two wild cards who could spark the offense in rookies Kirby Dach and Alex Nylander. Dach hasn’t scored in his last nine games and is without an assist in his last eight. Nylander has one assist in his last 10 games.
These stretches might not be defined as slumps because Dach and Nylander are unproven, and their base level isn’t yet known. But if they can turn things around, it would be a huge boost to the Hawks.