The Blackhawks took a little something with them on their NHL-mandated break in the schedule: A five-game winning streak.
They will have to wait until Saturday to determine if the momentum they gained from coming out on top in the final five games of a six-game trip will still be there when they return to action.
"We’re going to try to use the break to our advantage," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "Try to use it to rest up and feel as good as we can coming back and we’ll just try and carry on the momentum. It’s been a good stretch of games lately where we have all four lines and defensemen and goalies playing great. It’s something that we know going forward we can keep in our heads."
Their 5-1 thrashing of the Oilers on Saturday night moved the Hawks within three points of the Wild for the top spots in the Central Division and Western Conference, though Minnesota had three games in hand. When the Hawks next take the ice to face the Oilers at the United Center, the Wild will have caught them with 58 games played.
"Our guys have played a lot of hockey and the guys who went to the All-Star Game didn’t get much of a break," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Hopefully everybody gets away and comes back refreshed and trying to recapture this feeling we have right now."
Milestone man: When Brent Seabrook takes the ice Saturday, it will be the defenseman’s 900th career game — all with the Hawks. Seabrook was the team’s top selection (14th overall) in the 2003 NHL draft and ranks seventh in games played for the franchise.
"Having a chance to play that many games is pretty special and obviously being able to do it … all in a Blackhawks uniform is pretty special," Seabrook said. "Hopefully I have a lot of hockey left to play."
At 31, Seabrook leads by example and is also the most vocal of the team’s leaders, according to Quenneville.
"You just try and do your thing," Seabrook said. "I try to be the same guy I’ve been my whole life and my whole career. If it’s helping a guy out, if it’s making a guy laugh, having some fun, goofing around, whatever it is, that’s what I try to do."
Drop ’em: One of the stranger sights during Saturday’s game was rookie Vinnie Hinostroza exchanging punches with the Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins late in the third period.
"That was my first fight of my life," Hinostroza said. "I felt like it was pretty even. I don’t think either of us was looking to knock each other out or anything. It was fun to do that for my first time."
Hinostroza, who stands 5-foot-9 inches and weighs 173 pounds, said he took some good-natured ribbing from his teammates after the bout.
"They were all laughing," Hinostroza said.
Back in: Backup goaltender Scott Darling made 30 saves against the Oilers to earn the victory in his first game since Jan. 28.
"When you don’t get to play a lot, every game is so important," Darling said. "You only get your one shot or maybe two a month to show the boys that you’re pulling your weight, too, so it feels extra good to get a win."
Restless: In procedural moves to save some money under the NHL’s salary cap during the break, the Hawks on Sunday activated Michal Rozsival from the injured list and reassigned Hinostroza, Gustav Forsling, Tanner Kero and Nick Schmaltz to Rockford of the AHL.
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