NEWSLETTER
We’ve made it through half of the 2021 season. 28 games in, 28 games to go. The Chicago Blackhawks are currently sitting in fourth-place in the Central Division based on points (33) and points percentage (.589) and are on pace to finish the year with 66 points — a stark contrast to where most people in the hockey world expected this team to be at this point in the season.
A young, fun team to watch, the Blackhawks remain in a “rebuild” mentality while still focusing on the playoff push ahead of them.
• At the beginning of the season, I made some predictions about what the 2021 season had in store for the Blackhawks. Needless to say, I was pretty, pretty, pretty wrong about them. And I couldn’t be happier.
Let’s Revisit Our Blackhawks Preseason Predictions (Because Boy Were We Wrong About This Team)https://t.co/u4Q5Uj00m8
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 12, 2021
• Last night, the Blackhawks topped the Dallas Stars 4-2 in Dallas. The win improved the Blackhawks to 3-1-0 against the Stars this season. It was one of those games of which you’d think the Blackhawks would be on the opposite end, but Chicago scored four goals on 16 shots in the game. Putting that another, more extreme way: by the end of the second period, they had scored four goals on eight shots. They were out-shot and out-chanced by the Stars for the full 60-minute contest, but it was a game of quality over quantity.
• Kevin Lankinen answered 28 of the 30 shots he faced, moving his record to 10-4-4 on the season with a .919 save percentage and a 2.72 GAA. He ranks 10th in the NHL in save percentage this season, has faced the third-most shots (619), and is one of first 12 goalies to reach 10 wins this season. Among rookie goaltenders, he ranks third in GAA, third in save percentage, and has the second-most wins.
• Patrick Kane notched two assists on the season, helping push his to the 40-point plateau after 28 games. He is third in the NHL in scoring behind Leon Draisaitl (42) and Connor McDavid (48). He is scoring at a 1.43 point per game pace, a career-high. At this pace over an 82-game schedule, Kane would finish with a career-high 117 points, which would also rank as the fourth-most in a season in Blackhawks franchise history.
Getting 2 assists in a 4-2 win vs DAL Thursday, Patrick Kane became the 3rd player (along with Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl) to hit 40 points this season. He also tied behind 4 other starts on this list of fast paths to 40 in the last 40 @NHLBlackhawks seasons ('70-71 to pres) pic.twitter.com/b8o7XjsA6R
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) March 12, 2021
• Also getting on the scoresheet last night, Duncan Keith finally scored his first goal of the season.
DUNCAN KEITH'S FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON! pic.twitter.com/b1woTHJRMq
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 12, 2021
• So he CAN shot without hitting shin pads. Good to know. Keith’s first goal of the season came exactly one year to the day since his last goal, scored on March 11, 2020. His next goal will tie him with Brent Seabrook for third all-time in goals (103) by defensemen in Blackhawks franchise history.
Snapping a 36-game goal drought (including playoffs) since scoring exactly a year ago to date (Mar 11, 2020 vs SJ), @NHLBlackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith's tally in a 4-2 win vs DAL on Thursday night has moved him to 3rd on this list of clutch blueliners in CHI franchise history pic.twitter.com/7VWkCN8svI
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) March 12, 2021
• Also getting one past Anton Khudobin last night was Alex DeBrincat for his team-leading 15th goal of the season.
Alex DeBrincat makes it 4-0 in Dallas!!!! pic.twitter.com/7WzXEuT8PU
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 12, 2021
• Second on the team in points (29) this season, DeBrincat is officially back (and then some).
We've thrown out lots of of crazy numbers tonight. But this one really sticks out for me:
– Alex DeBrincat scored 18 goals in 70 games last season.
– He has 15 in 24 this season. That's a 51-goal pace during an 82-game campaign.— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) March 12, 2021
• Not too jinx it or look to far ahead, but with the way the Blackhawks have been playing, and the way the bottom-half of the Central Division has been lacking this season. I don’t think we’ll see any of the bottom-four team catch the Blackhawks. Chicago is 4-2-0 against the Blue Jacket this season, 3-1-0 against the Stars, 5-1-0 against the Red Wings, and while only 0-0-2 against the Predators, Nashville has been pretty bad this season compared to what their expectations were. They are -26 in goal differential this season, with only the Sabres (-27), Red Wings (-32), and Senators (-39) below them. The Blackhawks will play Nashville six times in the final 28 games of the year.
Duncan Keith: "It was a big win. We needed the points against Dallas. We're going to be competing with them all year for playoffs. It wasn't our best game but we got the 2 points, so we need to take the positives. Our PP was good, I thought our PK did a good job."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 12, 2021
• To put a ton of water on my own fire: Eight of the next 10 games are against the Lightning, Panthers and Hurricanes. The Blackhawks have a combined 2-5-3 record against those teams this season, being outscored 30-45.
• Finally, there’s one thing I think a lot of us were forgetting about the ESPN/ABC broadcast deal with the NHL beginning next season.
From a reader: Since there’s gonna be NHL games on ABC and the bachelor is on ABC, does this mean they’re planning on having Gritty as the next bachelor cause I need that
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) March 12, 2021
• Please make that happen.
