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 to 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."
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