"Sometimes when that happens, I think your team maybe simplifies their game a little bit," Bowman said. "So we're probably a little bit more simplistic in our approach. But our top guys are really on their games now, so you add that up, you get a lot of wins."
Forward Patrick Kane has 62 points (24 goals, 38 assists) in 50 games, 18 more than any of his teammates. Center Jonathan Toews has heated up, with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in his past 23 games after 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his first 27. Defenseman Duncan Keith continues to lead Chicago in average ice time (23:48). Goalie Robin Lehner is 15-7-4 with a 2.81 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
They're the engine. But meanwhile, younger players are developing. Rookie forward Dominik Kubalik, 24, has 32 points (21 goals, 11 assists) in 48 games, including 14 points (10 goals, four assists) in his past nine. Forward Alex DeBrincat, 22, has 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 50 games. Strome, 22, has 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 40.
Rookie defenseman Adam Boqvist, 19, has six points (two goals, four assists) in 25 games, and rookie forward Kirby Dach, who turned 19 on Tuesday, has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 44. But though they haven't broken out yet offensively, they have come a long way and have the potential to go much further. Boqvist was the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Dach the No. 3 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
"I was looking at our top power play," Bowman said. "We've got [Dach], and we've got a [Boqvist] running a power play from the top, and they've both played, like, 30, 40 games in the League. They don't look like they're a deer in headlights anymore. I think maybe early on, they were trying to survive. Now, they look to me like they're trying to push forward and make a difference.
"We haven't really had that. We haven't had young, high-end players growing as the year went on. We still have Strome and DeBrincat that are young too, that are going to keep getting better. So I think that's why we have a little bit different flavor than previous years. We've got younger players that are playing a pretty big role. So that should give us a bigger potential for improvement."
After their game against the Panthers, which will feature the return of three-time Stanley Cup champion coach Joel Quenneville to Chicago, the Blackhawks have the All-Star break and their League-mandated five-day break. They will play seven of their next eight games on the road, starting at the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 1, but they have been better on the road (12-9-3) than at home (12-11-3).
"There's that top group of teams that have separated themselves, and then there's kind of the bottom group," Bowman said. "So we're not in either of those. We're in that big group in the middle. So yeah, it's going to be telling. What do we do over the next stretch?"
