Blackhawks prove strength in depth since Patrick Kane injury
When Patrick Kane went down with a fractured collarbone on Feb. 24, it was easy to believe the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup potential had significantly diminished. After all, Kane was the leading scorer in the NHL. You can’t lose a guy like that and not suffer some letdown.
For most teams, this would be a deathblow. For the Blackhawks? Eh … no big deal. It’s easy to forget that this team still has Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad.
On defense they still had Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
Oh and they had prospect Teuvo Teravainen waiting in the minors, just in case of an incident to Kane.
Their record since Kane’s injury? 6-1-1. And they’ve been buoyed by the acquisitions of Antoine Vermette at forward and Kimmo Timonen on D. In five of those seven games, their CF percentage has been above 50 percent 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick. So yeah, they’re still really, really ridiculously good.
And finally, Sharp is again so hot right now (four points in his last two games) … on the ice as well.
If you want to look up “NHL embarrassment of riches” then Chicago should be listed as a prime example.
The Blackhawks squashed the Islanders 4-1 Wednesday night, and they take aim at the Rangers on Thursday.
From CSN Chicago after Chicago’s win against the Isles
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa just click, and they did again on Tuesday. Toews had two goals and two assists. Hossa had two goals and Sharp had two assists. Not a bad tally for the trio, who dominated. “It was certainly fun to watch,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “They made some nice plays, be it off the rush or in zone. They had quickness, strength in the puck area. Transitionally they were very effective and dangerous all game long. It’s nice to see them have a big game like that.”
The Blackhawks are just two points back of Nashville for second place in the Central Division – and the Hawks have three games in hand.
The Rangers provide some sort of test. But Chicago’s chances of playing on May 20 – the day we’ve targeted for Kane to possibly return, don’t seem impossibly low anymore.
Now if there’s an injury to another one of Chicago’s like … 10 All-Star type players then the Hawks will probably still be OK. Because they’re the Blackhawks.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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