At first glance at the NHL standings, the Ducks and Sharks appear to be much better teams than the Blackhawks this season.
That would be concerning for the Hawks, considering how all three teams have undergone similar rebuilds in recent years.
A deeper look, however, reveals the gap between the three teams largely stems from their different records in overtimes and shootouts.
The Hawks have 19 regulation wins this season, the Sharks have 20 and the Ducks have 23. They're all in the bottom half of the league in that category, but there's not much separating them.
On the other hand, the Ducks are 15-4 in overtime/shootout games and the Sharks are 12-6, whereas the Hawks are 7-13. The Hawks' 13 overtime/shootout losses are already their most since 2013-14, and they still have 12 games left.
That's why the Ducks are currently leading the Pacific Division (and are nearly a lock to make the playoffs), the Sharks are bouncing around the playoff bubble (playing high-stakes games every night) and the Hawks are sitting in the basement again.
The Hawks suffered another overtime loss Sunday, falling 3-2 against the Predators despite never trailing in the game. It marked the sixth time in the last 10 games the Hawks have gone to overtime, and they've lost four of those overtimes (winning only the two against the Mammoth).
Steven Stamkos equalized for the Predators halfway through the third period, and Filip Forsberg buried the winner 65 seconds into overtime after knocking Hawks forward Andre Burakovsky off the puck behind the net.
"[When] you get three guys on the ice, you get a little bit of systematic stuff, but...this comes down to guys making plays," coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought 'Burky' played great tonight, so [it's] a little bit unfortunate." And [Artyom Levshunov] didn’t quite react to the breakdown, and it goes in the net.
"If our overtimes had been better, our record would be much better. I certainly recognize that. But we have a lot of other things we’re work
