TORONTO _ Blackhawks fans not only will have a chance to see Patrick Kane pick up his 1,000th career point Sunday at the United Center, they'll welcome home the NHL's hottest team.
Drake Caggiula scored 21 seconds into the game, Jonathan Toews had two goals and two assists and Brandon Saad scored in his first game back after missing a month with an ankle injury in the Blackhawks' 6-2 rout of the Maple Leafs for their league-best fourth straight victory.
The Hawks improved to 23-20-6 and pulled within four points of the Canucks _ who played the Sharks late Saturday _ for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Kane's first-period assist moved him within one of 1,000 points, but that's a story for another night _ perhaps Sunday when the Hawks play host to the Jets.
Saturday's win belonged to every other Hawks player, it seemed.
Rookie Dominik Kubalik scored twice in the second period to give him 20 goals on the season and nine in his last seven games. His second Saturday came on an incredible play in which Toews sent a long, backhanded, cross-ice pass to the opposite side of the net, and Kubalik somehow hit the puck in midflight past goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Hawks scored three times in each of the first two periods, never letting the Leafs back in the game. Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots for his second straight win after dropping six of his previous seven starts.
Toews' season-high four points gave him 12 in his last five games and 798 in his career. Caggiula had his second straight game with a goal and an assist, and Erik Gustafsson added a pair of helpers for his first multipoint game since the season opener in Prague.
As great as the individual efforts were, the most important outcome was picking up two points against a tough opponent to sweep a three-game trip and win for the seventh time in eight road games.
