One of the running themes early this season has been the quality of competition in the Central Division. The Blackhawks might be pretty good, but in a stacked division, pretty good might leave you in sixth place and watching the postseason from home.
Now Chicago is coming off a weekend of back-to-back losses to Calgary and Vancouver, a pair of games that should’ve yielded more than one point. And yet, while the Hawks seem to be struggling to hit their next gear right now, other teams in the division have quietly been cooling down.
Even with the recent losses by the Hawks, the team is still currently positioned for a playoff spot. A victory on Saturday night against the Canucks would’ve bumped Chicago from fifth to third in the division in one night. While the Stars continue to run over teams with arguably the best offense in the league, the rest of the Central’s contenders are pretty close together in the standings.
This isn’t to say that the Hawks are without issues. The second line is still shouldering most of the scoring load, the goaltending has been inconsistent and the blue line is still trying to find the mix of players. The team only has a plus-2 goal differential so far this season because, quite frankly, it hasn’t been all that great. And that’s with Patrick Kane off to the hottest start of his career next to a breakout star in Artemi Panarin.
It goes without saying that the Hawks will need to be playing better come the spring if they want to make a lengthy run through the playoffs.
With that said, it’s looking like the Central, while indeed stacked, might not be as dangerous as it initially looked. The Jets have especially fallen off recently, although a two-game winning streak might a sign they’re turning things around. The Blues, Wild and Predators have all won five or fewer games over their past 10 contests. These are all very good teams, but there have been encouraging signs of vulnerability from them lately. Dallas is the one team that’s consistently beat up opponents this season.
It’s still probably the toughest division in hockey and that means the Hawks will have to step it up eventually if they want to avoid a close call down the stretch late in the season. But the early narrative of THE CENTRAL OMG WHAT A MINEFIELD seems to be dying down a bit. If you’re looking for a silver lining in an otherwise frustrating weekend, this might be it.