Blackhawks star Patrick Kane had virtually no impact on last night’s 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames — he left the ice after one 23-second shift with an apparent injury to his left leg. He did not return, and, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, coach Joel Quenneville says that Kane will miss “a little bit” of time, not specifying how much.
The Hawks were able to win last night because they took advantage of power play opportunities, something they couldn’t do on Friday night against Vancouver. Dave Bolland scored a pair of power play goals. A cautionary tale, however, can be told in that the Flames also scored twice on the power play. The Hawks penalty-killers will have to do a better job for winning to become more consistent.
As has been the case in many recent years in the NHL, there is a scrum of teams near the top of the league. No one is dominant — yet. Fully half of the league’s 30 teams — 15 of them — have between 30 and 38 points, essentially between four games of each other, with about one-third of the season completed. That will make victory totals and playoff positioning even more important for home-ice advantage, so the Hawks need to start making that home ice what it was last year. They’re still under .500 at home at 7-8. On the other hand, their 8-4-2 road record is among the best in the league.