The Chicago Blackhawks still haven’t had a game with their full roster. Yes, the most important piece, Connor Bedard, is back, but Bowen Byram missed his second straight game on Saturday with an upper-body injury, as the Blackhawks lost 4-0 to the Dallas Stars.

They are starting to figure things out at 5-on-5, as the forwards group has found some stability. Bedard’s return has made the power play far more dangerous, and the penalty kill has improved lately. After giving up five goals in their first 13 chances, they have allowed only one goal in their last nine chances, improving to 73.9%.

Last year, the penalty kill was one of the few bright spots in a disappointing season, finishing second in the league at 83.6%. This season’s slow start can be attributed to the turnover. Connor Murphy, Louis Crevier, Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson, and Ilya Mikheyev were all penalty-kill stalwarts last season, and they’ve all moved on. This season will prove whether last year’s success came down to personnel or head coach Jeff Blashill’s system.

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