Friday Four: Blackhawks playoff streak in jeopardy

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will bring you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays, or trends that have caught his eye.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks will be hard-pressed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. They are 12 points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference and have lost eight straight games (0-7-1). They have scored five goals in their past four games and nine in six games. The power play ranks 29th (15.9 percent), and they are tied for 22nd in goals per game (2.79). This is not something we're used to seeing from them.
Chicago has made the playoffs in each of the past nine seasons. Obviously Patrick Kane is Patrick Kane (53 points; 21 goals, 32 assists) but no one else on the team has reached 40 points. Nick Schmaltz (39) and Alex DeBrincat (38) are second and third on the team in scoring, followed by captain Jonathan Toews (37). Defenseman Duncan Keith scored his first goal of the season Thursday and is minus-13; longtime partner Brent Seabrook has 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) and has been a healthy scratch at times this season.
When you win as much as the Blackhawks have, roster turnover is expected. The issue this season is that they haven't been able to overcome those moves as they have in years past. Also, being without goalie Corey Crawford for an extended period of time hasn't helped.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins are the hottest team in the League right now. They've won 10 straight games at home and eight of 10 overall. Don't look now but they've closed within three points of the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division. It's taken the Penguins a while to get to where we know they can be, but they're certainly playing like the team that has won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons.
The super heroes are the super heroes. Forward Evgeni Malkin, who was the NH's First Star of the Month for January, has 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in his past nine games and 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in his past 17. Forwards Sidney Crosby (19 goals, 47 assists) and Phil Kessel (24 goals, 42 assists) each has 66 points, tied for the team lead and tied for third in the League.
But they are getting contributions from other guys as well. Jake Guentzel has stepped it up after a slow start. Rookie forward Zach Aston-Reese has two goals in his past two games (a third was taken away after a scoring change). Goaltender Matt Murray, who's had a difficult season professionally and personally, has strung together three straight wins and looks locked in.

Anaheim Ducks

Forward Adam Henrique has been great with the Ducks. No matter where they have put him in the lineup or what situations he's played in, he has come through. Since being acquired in a trade from the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 30, Henrique has 22 points (14 goals, eight assists) in 34 games. He also has six game-winning goals, the most in the League during that span.
The Ducks have had an up-and-down season, but at 28-20-11 after a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Thursday, they are one point out of the second wild card in the Western Conference and one point out of third place in the Pacific Division. John Gibson has been injured but recently came back and has allowed two goals or fewer in his past five starts. Backup Ryan Miller played well in his absence as well.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The top two lines are on fire. Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews and William Nylander along with Mitchell Marner, Nazem Kadri and Patrick Marleau have been great during Toronto's recent stretch of 10 wins in 12 games. They have plenty of players who can make some noise.
Frederik Andersen made 54 saves
in a 6-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets
on Wednesday and has been a Vezina Trophy candidate (29-15-4, 2.66 goals-against average, .922 save percentage). He steals games and gives Toronto a chance to win, night in and night out. The Maple Leafs have moved within six points of the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division, so let's not count them out yet.

Honorable Mention

Goaltender Antti Raanta has very quietly had a nice little run with the Arizona Coyotes. He's 3-0-1 with a .943 save percentage in his past five games, including wins against the Wild, San Jose Sharks and Blackhawks. Rookie forward Clayton Keller had cooled off but had four points against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past four games.