The Blackhawks have taken the power out of power play this season.
Going into Sunday’s game against the Canadiens, the Hawks had converted on just 14.3 percent of their popwer plays, tied with the Canucks for fourth worst in the league.
But that number has mattered little of late to Artem Anisimov, who scored 100 percent of the team’s power-play goals in the previous two games.
The center shoved home a rebound Wednesday against the Flyers to end an 0-for-17 skid. He scored once more Saturday on a deflection from Duncan Keith’s shot during a victory against the Wild to push his career-high-tying goal streak to four games.
And while scoring is the main objective with a man advantage, Anisimov said it’s not the only important thing.
“It’s a big difference when the power play gets the goal and gets the boost for the whole team,” he said. “If we don’t score but we feel like we move the puck and have a nice power play, it’s the same thing. It’s big for the team game. Very important.”
Anisimov said he’s gaining more comfort with each game, thanks to familiarity with his linemates, Patrick Sharp and John Hayden. The trio played its sixth straight game together Sunday.
“It’s slowly developing,” he said.
Cat’s out of the bag: Alex DeBrincat had gone eight games without a goal but netted an empty-netter Thursday against the Flyers and another one Saturday against the Wild to break the ice.
The 19-year-old played his third straight game Sunday on a line with Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik and has the confidence of his coach.
“I don’t care how he scores the goals,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Not quite ready: Quenneville said Friday that Gustav Forsling might be available to play Sunday against the Canadiens. But Forsling, who has been out since suffering an upper-body injury against the Avalanche, missed his third straight game.
Quenneville said “he’s very close,” and pointed to the three days between Sunday’s game and the team’s next game Thursday against the Flyers as a good time for Forsling to get some extra rest.