Rest and home ice — two of the biggest advantages in hockey — have been Blackhawks’ worst enemies

The Blackhawks draw the largest home crowds in the NHL but have the fourth-worst home results.

After a hideous 7-1 loss Monday to the Devils, the Hawks have lost five of their last six games at the United Center and are 8-9-3 at home this season. Only the Red Wings and Devils — the NHL’s two worst teams — have fewer home victories.

‘‘We’ve said it for a while now, especially when we’ve had some lackluster efforts in our building, that you’re going to have nights when pucks aren’t bouncing your way and you’re going to be fighting it a little bit and the legs aren’t there,’’ captain Jonathan Toews said after the loss Monday. ‘‘Whatever the excuse is, we have to find a way to play through that and simplify our game.’’

The Hawks are one of the few teams in the NHL with roughly equal home and road records. But their 7-8-3 road record ranks in the middle of the pack leaguewide, so it’s their play at home that most needs improvement.

Breaking down the first 20 home dates so far, coach Jeremy Colliton on Monday explained a pattern he had noticed: When playing fatigued hockey on the latter end of a back-to-back, which forces them to use the simplified, straightforward style they typically employ on the road, the Hawks are 4-0-0 on Madison Street. Take out those results, and they’re 4-9-3 with rest at home.

‘‘What we do on the road is we [play] a simple game,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘We understand we’re going to have to be simple and hard-working and competitive to survive, and that’s the case. We’ve gone into some rinks that are pretty tough to win in, against teams that are really good, and we’ve grinded it out.

‘‘The success we’ve had at home is on back-to-backs. You understand it’s going to be a grind, and you just grind it out. You’re willing to play 0-0 for a while. . . . [When] we have rest, it seems like we come in and think it’s just going to happen. That’s obviously far from the case.’’

The Hawks have succeeded in creating slower, lower-event hockey (fewer shots and scoring chances) in those four second-leg home victories, a necessity to accommodate their tired legs.

The Hawks and their opponents have combined to average 1.85 shots and 0.93 scoring chances per minute (at five-on-five) in those second-leg home games, compared with 1.95 shots and 0.96 scoring chances per minute in all other home games.

And the Hawks have controlled the puck more in those lower-event games than in higher-event games (more shots and scoring chances). They have generated 49.4 percent of the scoring chances in the former and 48.3 percent in the latter.

It seems home ice and rest, traditionally two of the most cherished advantages in hockey, have become the Hawks’ worst enemies.

That’s surely a disappointment for the capacity crowds that continue to pack the United Center on Hawks game nights — something the co-tenant Bulls recently have discovered isn’t a guarantee forever.

The Hawks still lead the NHL with an average of 21,380 fans per game, and that only has increased this month. In fact, the turnout Monday (21,559) was the third-largest of the season and arguably the most boisterous — at least at first. By the third period, with the Hawks dead and buried, that atmosphere was long gone.

That might become a trend unless their performances improve.

‘‘We’ve been poor at home overall, no matter who we’ve played,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘We’ve played some good teams, and we haven’t been good enough.’’