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Blackhawks proving they can win low-scoring games

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The identity of the Blackhawks over the last few years has been they're a high-risk, high-reward team. They'd give up a lot of chances, but they'd generate a lot of chances, too, and their offense and goaltending would keep them in games.

The 2020-21 Blackhawks are different. They're still allowing scoring chances at a high rate, but they've limited the high-quality ones and have turned into a team that can win low-scoring affairs.

"Good teams find a way to win those games," Calvin de Haan said. "I think everyone’s been playing pretty well for the most part. We've got solid goaltending, which obviously helps, and as a group of six defensemen out there we’ve been solid. The 12 forwards that are in the lineup are giving us a chance to win as well and it seems like we’re also scoring goals at key times that kind of put us on top as well, whenever we win. It feels good, it's fun to be around the rink."

The Dallas Stars have been one of the NHL's hottest offensive teams this season and the Blackhawks were able to hold them to only two goals in 125:11 of action. The Blackhawks won both games 2-1 in overtime, and that says something about this team.

"We're trying to get a type of hockey together that we can win sustainably," head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "We've got to feel like we have a chance to win every night. We love scoring goals, no doubt about that, but you've got to keep it out of your net if you want to have any type of consistent success and I feel like we're doing that."

A large amount of credit must go to the goaltending, which has been terrific this season after a rough start. No team has a better save percentage since Jan. 25 than the Blackhawks, who are at .944 thanks to Kevin Lankinen and Malcolm Subban.

But the five-man unit in front of them deserves praise as well. They're playing more structured and are proving it against elite teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and Stars, all while doing so without two key players in Kirby Dach and Jonathan Toews, who's the team's top defensive forward.

Who would've thought that defense and goaltending would be one of the strengths of this hockey club? 

"That's the key, you've got to be able to find a way to win," Lankinen said. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if it's 6-4 or 2-1, you just want to find a way to win and I think the last couple weeks we've been doing just that. ... That's just part of the team effort. Everybody's bought in to this project and it's exciting."

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