After spending much of the early part of the season focused on keeping pucks out of the net but not getting the results on the scoreboard that they wanted, the Blackhawks have opened up the offense the past few games. They matched their season-high of five goals that they set during their last two home wins, over the Kings on Oct. 27 and the Canucks on Thursday night.
"We made a conscious effort to be a bit looser when the puck turned over, so we could create more out of D-zone in transition and I think it's helped," Colliton said. "There have been a lot more plays available for us. (It's) probably closer to how it looked last year, as far as our ability to make plays out of the D-zone and through the neutral zone, and probably fits our top guys. You can see they're coming to life.
"It doesn't mean that the defensive side won't be a continued emphasis, because you've got to keep the puck out of your net to win," Colliton added.
Asked if reverting back to last season's system is permanent, Colliton called it "a happy medium."
"It was a big emphasis to keep the puck out of our net, and still is, but at the same time, we've got to score more than them in order to win," he continued. "We're trying to find the right balance and I think ultimately we need to win games to stay in the race, to allow ourselves to play important games. That's what we've done in the last week, we've got some points."
Dach, who scored his second career goal off a rebound of an Andrew Shaw shot, said the Blackhawks confidence as a group is growing.
"Our top-end guys are firing right now and it's good when those guys are going," Dach said. "You know you're going to get some puck luck when you're going and obviously (Lehner and Corey Crawford) are shutting the door whenever they're in the net. We just have to keep playing within the system and keep trusting ourselves and our game and we'll be alright."