Blackhawks hope to break bye-week trend, extend win streak

Patrick Kane took a couple of true days off before hitting the hotel gym in Mexico. Trevor van Riemsdyk kept loose with some yoga moves on the beach. Joel Quenneville hit the slopes in Vail, Colorado. And poor Brian Campbell was run ragged by his two little daughters on a stay-cation in the western suburbs.

‘‘It’s nice to be able to be home and help out and take a little bit of the load off my wife,’’ Campbell said. ‘‘And to realize how tiring it is being at home compared to being here.”

Campbell even gave a ‘‘What does your dad do?’’ presentation at a daughter’s school. Not all the kids knew whom he was — or even what a Chicago Blackhawk was — but they found good uses for the mini-sticks he brought for everyone.

The five-day bye week, which was negotiated into the collective-bargaining agreement for the first time this season, offered the Hawks a physical and mental respite from the grueling monotony of the NHL regular season.

Given how condensed the schedule is and how brutal the homestretch will be — 17 games in the last 30 days starting March 9 — the timing was ideal. Given how well the Hawks were playing before they were forced off the ice — five consecutive victories to close out the annual ice-show trip — it wasn’t so ideal.

Compounding matters is the alarming rate at which teams are losing after their bye weeks. Through Thursday, teams were 15-5-0 in their last game before the bye and 3-9-1 in their first game back. And it’s only getting worse. In February, teams were 0-5-0 in their first game back and trailed by a combined 19-3 through two periods.

Getting back to game speed so quickly is the primary concern, and that’s what Quenneville tried to do with a brief but scrimmage-heavy practice Friday. It was the Hawks’ first time on the ice since last Saturday in Edmonton, and their first game back will be a

rematch Saturday against the Oilers at the United Center.

‘‘Teams haven’t done too well out of the bye break, so we’ll just try to keep it simple,’’ Kane said. ‘‘That’s the biggest thing. I’m sure as the game goes along, we’ll probably get a little more comfortable, too. But definitely keep it simple at the start.’’

Goalies face the toughest challenge. All Corey Crawford will have is practice Friday and an early-morning skate Saturday to get his timing back before facing the high-octane Oilers.

‘‘Are the goalies going to be quick? And how’s their timing going to be, not seeing pucks for some time?’’ Quenneville said. ‘‘Some guys stand on their head when they come out of it, and some may need a little while to get their feet under them. It’s tough to forecast that, but that’s probably the one area you might keep an eye on.’’

The bye week did allow the Minnesota Wild to catch up to the Hawks in games played, giving the Hawks a better idea of where they stand entering the homestretch. The Wild are seven points ahead of them, with another matchup looming Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota.

So with only 25 games left in the regular season, there’s no time to get back into game shape slowly.

‘‘We want to get off to a good start here, playing three [games] in four [days],’’ Campbell said. ‘‘You don’t want to look too far ahead, but Minnesota’s one of the games at the end there, so that’s another huge game for us. We’ve got to keep finding ways to put points in the bank.’’

Follow me on Twitter @MarkLazerus.

Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com