CHICAGO -- Playing teams from their own division was something that vexed the Chicago Blackhawks last season, but this year it's been a different story.
Prior to hosting the Colorado Avalanche at United Center on Tuesday, another opponent from the Central Division, the Blackhawks hold a 10-4-0 record against their division. That's three wins short of their entire amount against the Central in 2013-14, when they went 13-13-3 and finished third.
It's an impressive turnaround effort through the season's first half, but even more so considering how stacked the division is with good teams. The Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets are in the thick of the race after neither made the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
"It's a tough division," right wing Patrick Kane said after the Blackhawks' morning skate. "You look at a lot of our teams, there's really no bad team in the division and on any given night an opponent can [win] its matchup. We try to pride ourselves on these games, because we know maybe that later in the year it's going to be more important."