Pluses, minuses for Penguins-Blackhawks

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey game in his Weekes on the Web blog.

This week on Wednesday Night Hockey, it's a game between two teams heading in opposite directions.
After a slow start, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around and are 6-2-2 in their past 10 games to get within striking distance of the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals.
The Chicago Blackhawks are trending in the opposite direction, losers of eight straight and 10 of 11.
Will the Penguins (13-10-6) continue their run or will the Blackhawks (9-18-5) end their skid? We'll find out at United Center (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS).

Here's my breakdown of the game:

Penguins

Pluses: The biggest thing for the Penguins is that their stars have been their stars. Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel each have 33 points, Evgeni Malkin has 32 and Kris Letang has 24. They have five players with at least 10 goals, and five with at least 24 points.
The Penguins can still score goals. Pittsburgh has at least four goals in seven of its past 12 games. They've also done well on special teams, ranking in the top 10 in power-play percentage and penalty-killing percentage.
In Matt Murray's absence, goalie Casey DeSmith has played very well. He's 9-4-4 with a 2.34 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and two shutouts and started the past five games and seven of eight for the Penguins. That allows them to not panic and give Murray more time to heal from his lower-body injury. Murray has missed the past nine games and could return against the Blackhawks, but the Penguins would be wise not to rush him back.

Minuses: Patric Hornqvist's upper-body injury really hurts the Penguins. He's missed the past two games and his net-front presence in sorely missed. Hornqvist scored a natural hat trick in 2:47 in the third period of a 6-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 4 and has 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 24 games.
Their bottom forwards aren't scoring. Pittsburgh is too reliant on its horses, and that eventually could catch up to them. It's nice when lines are clicking, but maybe they should break apart the top two lines to spread out the offensive production more.
Pittsburgh could use another experienced defenseman with Justin Schultz out because of a leg fracture. Jack Johnson, who signed a five-year, $16.25 million contract on July 1, has one goal and is a minus-10. Offense only gets you so far during the season and in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Depth on defense is very important, as well.

Blackhawks

Pluses: Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews continue to drive this team, leading the Blackhawks with 15 and 13 goals respectively. They are two players you never have to worry about each night; you know they are going to always show up. And Alex DeBrincat hasn't had a sophomore slump; he has 12 goals and 24 points in 32 games. The three of them are among 11 Chicago players with 10 points or more, including four defensemen. That kind of scoring depth is exactly what teams hope for.
There is also less pressure on the Blackhawks now since they aren't expected to win or be competitive. Firing Joel Quenneville signaled that they were going to enter a rebuilding mode with a young coach and weren't a Cup contender right now. It allows some of their younger players to develop and not to have to play under duress.

Minuses: Even after missing the playoffs last year, I don't think anyone expected this. They have nine wins and 23 losses and rank last in the League in penalty-killing percentage (11.3) and 30th in power-play percentage (72.6). They have the fewest points in the NHL (23) and are five wins in 14 games at United Center (5-6-3). That should be a big home advantage to them, but so far this season it hasn't been the case.
Chicago had their dynasty with three Stanley cup championships in six seasons from 2010-15, but Father Time always wins and all good things must come to an end. However, the Blackhawks have built and rebuilt before and must do it again. One problem, though, is that some of their prospects haven't developed as much as they would have hoped. But now is the chance to give them playing time, being so far out of the playoff picture.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. Who matches up against Crosby's line?
   2. Can Chicago remained disciplined?
   3. Will the Penguins look past this game against a Blackhawks team they are supposed to defeat?