At the All-Star break when we revealed our midseason grades, the Blackhawks were 29th in the entire NHL with a points percentage of .441. But that's right around the time where they started to turn around their season.
From Jan. 20 and on, the Blackhawks finished fifth in points percentage (.652). Only the Tampa Bay Lightning (.788), St. Louis Blues (.743), Boston Bruins (.727) and Carolina Hurricanes (.714) had a higher clip, all of whom are in the playoffs. The Blackhawks were in that position because their star players strapped the team on their back.
Alex DeBrincat scored a career-high 41 goals, Patrick Kane finished third in the NHL's scoring race with 110 points and Jonathan Toews set a career high in all three scoring categories: goals (35), assists (46) and points (81).