One month in the book for the Blackhawks, and it hasn’t been the best start. At 3-6-2, it’s their fewest wins through 11 games of a season since they started the 2005-06 season 3-8-0.
Not ideal, but let’s hope for a better November and chew on some numbers from the month that was.
1
Over the last 21 Blackhawks power plays, there has been a total of one goal scored. And that was by the opposition (in other words, they allowed a short-handed goal).
The Blackhawks power play is at 9.1 percent (3 for 33 – let’s hear Pat Foley say that) for the season, 30th of 31 NHL teams. Only the Senators (5.4 percent) have been worse. Only one direction to go…
2
Points for Jonathan Toews through 11 games. Last season he had 11 points through the first 11 games. There had been grumblings about the Captain’s lack of production in the few seasons leading up to 2018-19, but he responded with career highs in goals (35), assists (46) and points (81) last season. Toews may be off to a slow start, but don’t write him off; he’ll get his before the season is done.
NHL
3
Three goals lead the Blackhawks. A FIVE-WAY-TIE between Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Saad, Dylan Strome, Drake Caggiula and Patrick Kane.
The Blackhawks are the only team that doesn’t have a player with more than three goals. To make things worse, on Tuesday, the Predators’ Nick Bonino scored three goals against the Blackhawks on his own. It’s rough. But it will get better. Kane and DeBrincat scored 40 apiece last season. We haven’t yet seen the best from Dylan Strome. The talent is there.
3 (again)
Kirby Dach was drafted third overall by the Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL Draft. On Oct. 22, in his second career NHL game – at the age of only 18 years, 274 days – he scored his first career NHL goal. Three seems to be a lucky number for the Blackhawks, and players drafted at that number score early. Here are the last five Blackhawks players selected third overall:
| Name | Year | First career NHL goal |
| Kirby Dach | 2019 | second career NHL game |
| Jonathan Toews | 2006 | first career NHL game |
| Cam Barker | 2004 | second career NHL game |
| Eddie Olczyk | 1984 | first career NHL game |
| Denis Savard | 1980 | second career NHL game |
And Dach was the first Blackhawks player to score his first career NHL goal before turning 19 since Patrick Kane. Not bad. Regardless how the Blackhawks fare as a team this season, Dach’s growth will be something to keep an eye on.
4
In the season opener, Patrick Kane scored a goal in the third period. As that game was played in Prague, Czech Republic it was the fourth different country in which Kane scored a regular season NHL goal (also the US, Canada and Finland, where the Blackhawks kicked off the 2009-10 season against the Panthers).
He's the first player in Blackhawks history to score a goal in four different countries! Maybe there isn’t much to be learned from that fact, but I love it.
30.4
The Blackhawks are averaging just over 30 hits per game. That’s the most in the NHL, and it’s very uncharacteristic. Here’s where they ranked in hits per game over the last six seasons:
2019-20: No. 1
2018-19: No. 30
2017-18: No. 30
2016-17: No. 30
2015-16: No. 30
2014-15: No. 29
Normally, a high volume of hits means a lack of puck possession, and this is indeed the case for the Blackhawks. Their 5-on-5 shot percentage of 46.26 percent ranks 27th out of the 31 NHL teams. Simply said, this means that the Blackhawks have had 46.26 percent of the 5-on-5 shot attempts in the game, opposed to 53.74 percent for the opponent. You can’t score if you don’t have the puck, so this isn’t good.
36.5
Robin Lehner has made six starts so far this season and has faced an average of 36.5 shots per game. Despite that heavy workload, he has a sparkling 2.29 GAA and .936 save percentage (which is No. 4 in the NHL among goalies with at least four games played). He has been absolutely brilliant.
And there’s no reason to believe he’ll slow down. He had an excellent .930 save pct last season for the Islanders, then jumped to a .936 save percentage in eight playoff starts. Over his last 60 games (including playoffs) he has posted a phenomenal .931 save percentage. That’s 1,653 saves in 1,775 chances. A sizable sample.