The Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Edmonton Oilers have made the majority of headlines through the season's first quarter, but a look at the standings Friday reveals a new points leader: the Blackhawks.
After a 4-3 overtime win Thursday, Chicago leads the pack with 35 points on the back of a 10-1-2 record at home.
Here are three reasons why the Blackhawks are - again - the toast of the NHL.
Criminally underrated Crawford
Corey Crawford's quietly doing it again. While Carey Price, Pekka Rinne, and Devan Dubnyk make noise in the crease, Crawford's won 12 games and has an impressive .927 save percentage.
Among goalies who have played at least 20 games, only Sergei Bobrovsky (.929) has been better.
Crawford's often overlooked when it comes to Chicago's success, but he's integral to it. After back-to-back seasons with a .924 save percentage, the 31-year-old continues to play at an elite level. His .954 even-strength save percentage trails only Price and Dubnyk.
There's more: Crawford's stopped eight of nine shootout attempts.
Disciplined hockey
Chicago has one problem: It can't kill penalties.
The Blackhawks rank last in the league with a laughable 70.1 success rate on the kill, but until the club figures it out, it helps that Chicago doesn't make a lot of trips to the box.
Joel Quenneville's crew averages only 7.40 penalty minutes per game, fourth-fewest in the league. The club's 185 penalty minutes are eighth-fewest.
If you can't kill penalties, stay out of the box - simple as that. Chicago remains one of 15 teams with a positive possession rate, and key to its success over the years has been the fact it has the puck more often than not.
Interestingly enough, the Blackhawks lead the NHL in hooking infractions with 21. Can't imagine that'll be the case for long with Quenneville behind the bench.
Hossa and Anisimov are lighting it up
Patrick Kane is doing Patrick Kane-type things, producing at almost a point per game (24 in 25), but the club's second-leading scorer is Artem Anisimov, who has half as many points in 24 games as he had last season.
| Season | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 77 | 20 | 22 | 42 |
| 2016-17 | 24 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
Anisimov's shooting 25 percent, so regression is guaranteed, but for now, the Blackhawks are riding the wave and enjoying it.
Marian Hossa, meanwhile, is reborn as he approaches 38.
The veteran struggled last season, scoring only 13 goals in 64 games, thanks to a career-low 6.8 shooting percentage - and the hockey gods are now giving back.
Hossa's got 12 goals and 18 points in 24 games, firing at 21.4 percent. Four of his goals are game-winners, three of them in overtime. As for the non-overtime GWG, it came with under three minutes to play in a 2-2 game. Clutch.
Sleep on the Blackhawks at your peril. A perennial Stanley Cup contender, Chicago remains just that.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.