Patrick Kane leads the Blackhawks with 27 points in 28 games. Artem Anisimov is on pace for career highs in goals and points. And Artemi Panarin has been arguably the Hawks’ most consistent offensive threat. Combined, they’re still one of the best lines in hockey.
And yet…
“The game, it’s not there,” Anisimov said. “You just feel it. It’s not clicking yet. We’re working hard to try to click it back.”
The so-called “second” line has been a microcosm of the Hawks’ season. It has been very successful, but it hasn’t been overwhelmingly impressive. There are frequent flashes of the old razzle-dazzle between Kane and Panarin, and Anisimov has remained defensively reliable while becoming a much more significant offensive force. But like the rest of the Hawks offense, the line has been dormant a little too often.
Perhaps Kane and Panarin set the bar too high last season. Kane posted career highs with 46 goals and 106 points, averaging a whopping 1.29 points per game. Dallas’ Jamie Benn was a distant second at 1.09. This year, Kane is averaging a still-stellar 0.96 points per game, but that’s eighth in the league. Panarin is down from 0.96 to 0.82.
In the modern-day NHL, 100-point seasons are becoming more rare each year. With teams clamping down defensively, it’s getting tougher for Kane and Panarin to work their magic. Nobody wants to see creative playmakers such as Kane and Panarin playing a dump-and-chase style, but sometimes it comes to that.
“I think we just [need to] make things easier on ourselves,” Kane said. “Sometimes you think too much about creating offense and that works to your disadvantage. If we play a little bit simpler of a game, myself included — whether that’s chipping pucks in, trying to get it on the forecheck, getting pucks back, going to the net — that’s the best way to get scoring chances and get shots in this league.”
There are a few clear reasons for the line’s slight regression. For one, Kane spent 13 games away from Panarin and Anisimov, on the top line with Jonathan Toews. After a hot start, the duo failed to generate much, forcing Quenneville to reassemble the line. For another, Toews has missed seven games and counting with a back injury. That’s allowed opposing coaches to zero in on the Anisimov line with their top shutdown defenders.
“Teams are well aware of what they’re doing,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “With Jonny’s line not there, teams zoom in on them and they get the hard matchup. A lot of nights, it’s tight to generate when they’re sitting on them.”
The final reason is that the Hawks’ power play has been putrid. Anisimov’s power-play goal Tuesday night — off a nice pass by Kane — was just the Hawks’ fifth since Nov. 1. The trio usually works on the same power-play unit, and that’s where they do a good portion of their damage. Thirty-five percent of Kane’s points last year came on the power play; this year, it’s 26 percent. For Panarin, the percentage has dropped from 31.1 last year to 21.7 this year.
“They have spurts, they have their moments,” Quenneville said. “I think the power play’s been a little bit quiet lately and I think that generates a lot of offense for them and generates some opportunities. When they score, they seem to score in bunches. But they’ve been doing the bulk of our scoring, so there’s no complaints here about their production.”
No, it’s hard to complain about a line when it’s composed of your three top scorers. But given how the line played last year, and how top-heavy the Hawks are up front, the trio knows it needs to be even better.
“It’s nice that we’re producing a little bit,” Kane said. “But I think with us, we’re never really satisfied or happy. You always feel there’s more to be created.”
Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com
Twitter: @marklazerus
