Toews In Lineup As Blackhawks Begin Playoffs
By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 12, 2012 10:30PM
The Blackhawks begin the Stanley Cup playoffs on the road tonight against the Pacific Division Champion Phoenix Coyotes. Here are five things to watch for, if the Hawks expect to advance.
1. Will Jonathan Toews be effective?
Captain Serious was having a Hart Trophy-worthy season before missing the final 22 regular season games dealing with a February concussion. The team has played well in Toews' absence but any hope for a deep playoff run, let alone championship aspirations, must involve Toews.
2. The rest of the team must perform.
The Blackhawks record was 12-10 during Toews' absence, but showed flashes of a solid team game at points and are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games. Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa stepped up their performances while Toews has been out, while young players like Andrew Shaw and Johnny Oduya have earned added ice time. But the team has been prone to slow starts, lapses of concentration with late leads, can't win close games, and neither Corey Crawford nor Ray Emery has asserted himself as the goalie who best can lead a playoff run. Duncan Keith has recently started showing signs of his previous Norris Trophy-winning form, finishing the season with a plus-15 efficiency rating. Crawford and Emery have been like sieves at times, but the Hawks' blue lines have not provided adequate protection in front of the net, nor have they helped in the penalty kill or power play.
3. Don't be afraid of the Mike Smith.
In the tightly packed Western Conference playoff seeding, the Blackhawks had a "pick your poison" selection of Nashville's Pekka Rinne, Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick and Phoenix's Mike Smith. Rinne and Quick have had the Hawks' number this season, but Smith is playing better than either of them and is a major reason for the Coyotes earning the conference's third seed. He's third in the NHL with a .930 save percentage, third in shutouts, fourth in wins while playing 67 games. Calling Smith a workhorse is an understatement. Smith enters the playoffs having allowed only two goals in his last five games and a scoreless stretch of scoreless stretch of 234 minutes, 25 seconds.
4. Do something with the power play and penalty kill.
The Blackhawks are the only team in the Stanley Cup playoffs whose power play and penalty killing units are in the bottom third in the league. Lucky for their PK game Phoenix's power play is worse than theirs. But Phoenix got to the playoffs with a defensive-minded game and raked eighth in the league on the penalty kill.
5. Win one on the road.
The Blackhawks have a 27-8-5 record at the United Center, but are only 18-18-5 on the road. Phoenix, meanwhile, is pretty balanced home and away (22-13-6 at home, 20-14-7 away). It doesn't matter what happens for the Coyotes, they play the same game regardless.
Prediction: Coyotes in five.