The Chicago Blackhawks sure know how to make it look like they know what they're doing, don't they?
I mean, they clearly do. The Stanley Cups speak for themselves. But signing coach Joel Quenneville to a three-year contract extension just hours before he ties a major NHL milestone? That's some excellent timing.
With a 3-2 win over division rival Nashville on Tuesday, the Chicago coach tied Al Arbour with 722 career NHL regular season wins. That's the second-most all time, behind Scotty Bowman's 1,244. (He's probably not catching Scotty.)
The win also marked perhaps the peak of what has been an excellent stretch for the Blackhawks. With the Stars falling back, Chicago has used its 8-2-0 run to close the gap in the Central to two points. After a sputter to start to the season, the Blackhawks are primed to make a serious run at the Western Conference's best record in the last half of the year.
Which is totally unsurprising as long as Coach Q is behind the bench.
NHL Scores: Red-hot Blackhawks give Joel Quenneville another milestone
Chicago has its eyes on a bigger prize.
Scores
Hurricanes 3, Penguins 2
Islanders 5, Blue Jackets 2
Blackhawks 3, Predators 2
3 things we learned
1. Neither Nashville nor Columbus have won since the Big Trade
And it's probably all the players' faults, right? Probably not, but I won't keep you from your narrative fun. Seth Jones' new team in Columbus hasn't deviated from its path straight to the first overall pick, dropping its fourth straight game in a bad loss to the Islanders. Jones was on the ice for only one of the five goals, so at least he's not part of the problem yet. Meanwhile, Ryan Johansen's Predators lost their fourth straight because their newly acquired first-line center did things like this.
Ryan Johansen gets pushed off the puck and the ‘Hawks extend their lead to 2-0; Shaw w/ his second #NSHvsCHI: pic.twitter.com/z7nyMOQN4w
— Mark Harris (@MCHisTweeting) January 13, 2016
2. Elias Lindholm can flash his offensive skill in a variety of ways
Of all the highly touted 2013 draft prospects, Lindholm has received the least coverage nationally. That's fair, considering the market he plays in and how slowly he has developed in comparison to the likes of Nathan MacKinnon or Aleksander Barkov. But he's coming around lately, with six points in his last three games giving him 21 on the season. Three of those points were assists Tuesday, including the game-winner to Jeff Skinner in overtime.
MINIONS pic.twitter.com/GrXp1YDAC2
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 13, 2016 But you already knew that.
Impact Moment
The Hurricanes have a hearing scheduled later today for illegal use of magic.
another angle pic.twitter.com/HzzosUWExH
— Stephanie (@myregularface) January 13, 2016 Stat of the Night
Marian Hossa is one of 10 players to score 100+ goals with 3 different franchises (#Blackhawks, Thrashers/Jets, Senators) #HossaFacts
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) January 13, 2016
