Chicago Blackhawks

If the rest of the Blackhawks' six-game road trip goes as well as the first game, the Hawks will be in great shape.

They smoked the Calgary Flames and next will play Saturday at Edmonton, facing ex-teammate Nikolai Khabibulin. He was the Hawks' top goaltender the last four seasons before signing as a free agent with the Oilers in the offseason. The Hawks got the better of him in a 4-3 victory at the United Center on Oct. 14.

Sunday, the Hawks visit Vancouver. The Canucks were one of two teams to defeat the Hawks at the United Center early in the season, and they might have Daniel Sedin back from a broken foot for the second meeting.

In the first Vancouver game, defenseman Willie Mitchell delivered a hit on Hawks captain Jonathan Toews that gave Toews a concussion and sidelined him for six games. Mitchell's hit was clean, but that incident could still play into their second meeting.

The Hawks go to Edmonton with a five-game winning streak and their confidence building after getting their power play working at Calgary. Ranked 20th in the NHL with the man advantage going into the game, the Hawks scored four power-play goals against the Flames.

BLACKHAWKS 7, FLAMES 1: The Hawks snapped a 1-1 tie with five second-period goals to record their biggest offensive game of the season.

• The Blackhawks' youngest player turned 21 on Thursday. Patrick Kane celebrated quietly. "I was expecting little pranks, but it's been pretty low-key," said Kane. "For your 21st birthday you usually do it up pretty good. Everyone says that once you turn 21 you don't want to get any older. It's a good feeling. You get a little bit of freedom, but it comes with responsibility. You've got to be smart with what you're doing."

• Those lucrative contract extensions reportedly coming soon to Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith might have to wait. "Just speculation and rumors," Kane said of the league-wide reports that surfaced earlier this week. "My agent (Pat Brisson), Stan (Hawks' general manager Stan Bowman) and the Blackhawks' organization are negotiating, but nothing's done yet."

• The Hawks hit the 20-game mark with a 13-5-2 record. Last season they were 10-4-6 after 20.

• This six-game "circus trip" will be tough. Five of the opponents are over .500 this season and four made the playoffs last season. Last season the Hawks were 3-2-1 when the circus took over the United Center, but they won just six of 35 games during the same part of the schedule from 2001 to 2008.

• Rene Bourque, Calgary's leading scorer with 21 points going into Thursday game, played for the Hawks from 2005-08 and Aaron Johnson was with the Hawks last season and started this season on the roster before being claimed on waivers by the Flames. Johnson has played in just two games for Calgary.

• When John Madden went 9-for-9 on face-offs against San Jose on Sunday it was the first time a Hawk had done that well since Yanic Perreault was 12-for-12 against Colorado on Oct. 19, 2007.

• The six road games the Hawks had played prior to Thursday were the fewest in the NHL.

• The Hawks are leading the NHL in penalty killing. They had an 86.8 kill percentage before facing the Flames and the Hawks' shot differential (plus-10.1) was also the league's best.

Quote To Note:

"I guess there's a little bit of a rumor out there, but it's between my agent, Stan (Hawks general manager Stan Bowman) and the Blackhawks' organization. It'd be nice to get (the contract extensions of himself, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith) done all at the same time rather than sign one guy, then another and maybe one has to wait. If we all get done at the same time we'll all be better off."

—Hawks winger Patrick Kane, commenting on recent reports that he, Toews and Keith will soon receive lucrative contract extensions.

Goaltenders:

Cristobal Huet, Antti Niemi.

Defensemen:

Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell, Cam Barker, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brent Sopel.

First Line:

Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Bryan Bickell.

Second Line:

Andrew Ladd, John Madden, Troy Brouwer.

Third Line:

Dustin Byfuglien. Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg.

Fourth Line:

Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Tomas Kopecky.

Player Notes:

• LW Kris Versteeg, returning after sitting out one game with an upper body injury, scored two goals including the eventual game-winner.

• RW Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, running his goal streak to four games and his point streak to eight.

• D Duncan Keith had three assists. He has a goal and six helpers in the last three games.

Medical Watch:

• RW Marian Hossa underwent shoulder surgery in July. He is now practicing with the team and is expected to be in the lineup for the first time when the Hawks play three games in California next week. The first of those games is Wednesday at San Jose.

• RW Adam Burish suffered a right knee injury in a preseason game at Minnesota on Sept. 20. He suffered a torn ACL that required surgery. The Hawks expect his rehab to take six months, meaning he could rejoin the team in March.

• C Dave Bolland underwent back surgery on Nov. 10 to repair a herniated disk. His recovery period was listed as 12-16 weeks.