Blackhawks still ‘trying to get better’ as last-place race heats up

Five consecutive regulation losses have dropped the Blackhawks into a nearly dead heat for last place in the NHL.

The Hawks tout 54 points in 73 games. The Blue Jackets tout 53 points in 72 games. The Sharks tout 53 points in 73 games.

That puts them all within decimals of each other in terms of points percentage: .370, .368 and .363, respectively. The Ducks are also hanging around in fourth-to-last with a .384 points percentage (56 points in 73 games) entering Monday.

The final three weeks will determine which team enters the May 8 draft lottery with a 25.5% chance of receiving the first pick (and a guaranteed top-three selection), which team enters with a mere 9.5% chance of the first pick (and the possibility to slip to sixth) and which teams fall in the middle.

The tankers’ remaining strengths of schedule are comparable, too. The Hawks have five games left against teams currently in the playoff field while the Jackets have six, the Sharks seven and the Ducks six.

It really will come down to the fact that whichever team plays the worst will benefit the most long-term.

But as has already been discussed extensively, that’s neither the concern nor the objective of the Hawks’ active players or coaches. Even though their lack of talent has caught up to them after their work ethic-driven surge a few weeks back, they believe there are still things to learn and accomplish over these last nine games.

Coach Luke Richardson said he has tried to break down the season’s final stretch into “small goals” such as this week’s four-game home stand — which began with a loss to the Canucks on Sunday and continues Tuesday against the Stars, with the Blues and Devils coming later.

“We’re going to start trying to filter some guys in as we get to the end of the year,” Richardson added Sunday. “[These] are guys who have an opportunity here to show themselves, and that’s a real inspiration.”

Trade-deadline acquisitions Joey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Anders Bjork — the latter two of which just returned from poorly timed injuries — fit that bill. They’ll feel urgent to prove they’re worth re-signing.

The same urgency will apply to longer-tenured but fellow pending free agents Jujhar Khaira and Ian Mitchell, as well as to recently signed prospect Wyatt Kaiser in a different way.

Meanwhile, Richardson will continue to work on specific technical improvements during the few practices and morning skates left on the schedule.

That was evident last week in Washington, when he began a practice by breaking down how to defend when an opponent connects a seam pass to their weak-side defenseman in the Hawks’ defensive zone.

In that situation, he wants the Hawks’ weak-side forward to first check if there’s someone in the slot he should be covering — which was a problem (particularly off faceoffs) earlier this month — and, if there isn’t, to pressure the defenseman with the puck.

“If [the defenseman] goes down [the boards], our guy always goes down with him,” he said. “But if [the defenseman] goes up a little bit higher to the blue line...[our guy should] find that lane and be in the middle and make it a difficult pass, where you can react to it or cut it off with your stick.”

And the Hawks are listening, too. The steady, supportive team culture that Richardson is so proud of having facilitated this season means effort levels will likely remain high for these final nine games.

“We all have something to play for here,” Seth Jones said. “We’re all trying to get better as individuals and as a team moving forward and build something. We’re not going to get better [next season] out of thin air...so it starts now and starts with the way we play the game every night.”