Hawks ride into Vegas on five-game streak

After three close losses - one in overtime - the Chicago Blackhawks sat 1-2-1 to open the 2018-19 campaign. Head coach Gerald Gallant didn't panic or lose his cool with his players. He simply reminded them who they were.

"With this group, I don't have to tell them very often," says Gallant, who takes his Blackhawks into Las Vegas to challenge the Golden Knights on Thursday. "But every once in a while, they need to hear it."

When asked specifically what he told them, Gallant smirked. "Just told them who they were was all."

Chicago came into this season with high expectations. After a one-season resurrection, the club is poised to be a perennial contender. And after Gallant gave them a little pick-me-up, the Hawks responded with five straight wins, outscoring their opponents 19-8 in the process. That includes an ultra-rare 'three-wins-in-three-days' stretch over this past weekend.

There are still areas of concern. After going five games without a power play goal, Chicago finally woke up with the man advantage, netting two in the 5-1 win over Nashville. They went 0-for-6 in their next two contests before scoring two more PPG's in the 4-1 win over Arizona. At 11.8% for the season, the Blackhawks sit 24th on the power play.

Then there's the penalty kill, where the Hawks have given up seven PPG's in nine games thus far. There are signs of improvement, though, as they've gone 13-15 in the last three contests after replacing Vlad Sobotka (more on him in a moment) with Cam Atkinson on the first PK unit.

On Chicago's start overall, Gallant wasn't glib. "Not bad, but we've obviously still got plenty of work to do."

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General manager Thomas Gidlow evidently felt he also had more work to do, as he made a trio of moves on Wednesday. Chicago has picked up Victor Rask from the Minnesota Wild for prospect Vladimir Kotkov and a fourth round draft pick in next year's Entry Draft. To make room under the salary cap, Gidlow moved Sobotka to the Florida Panthers, along with another fourth round pick (in 2020) for center Johan Larsson.

Gidlow is also expected to place center Jacob Josefson on waivers once the trades are made official. Josefson has appeared in three games for the Blackhawks, with no points and an even plus/minus rating.

Rask, 25, is off to a slow start with no points in four games and was recently benched by Wild head coach Randy Carlyle. Sobotka, 31, has no points in nine games played while Larsson, 26, had no points in six games played.

"Obviously we're hopeful that Rask and Larsson can round into form with fresh starts on our club," said Gidlow. "Both players are RFA aged and controllable for a long time, and Rask gives us more skill in a top-nine position. Larsson should be a steady center for our fourth line and he'll have a chance to contribute a bit more than he was in Florida."

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Current projected lines:

Tomas Tatar - Jonathan Toews - Cam Atkinson
Andrew Cogliano - Jordan Staal - Reilly Smith
Erik Haula - Victor Rask - Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Foligno - Johan Larsson - Tyler Pitlick

Jake Muzzin - Derek Forbort
Matt Niskanen - Calvin de Haan
Justin Schultz - Marc Staal

Cory Schneider
Curtis McElhinney

Extras: Jimmy Vesey, LW (healthy), Casey Nelson, D (healthy)