Jonathan Toews was feeling "a little under the weather," so he didn't skate on Thursday. Coach Joel Quenneville said Toews should be ready to play in Game 1 against Minnesota on Friday. The Blackhawks captain had seven points in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

Jonathan Toews is one of the three finalists for the 2013-14 Mark Messier Leadership Award. Dustin Brown and Ryan Getzlaf were also nominated. Toews was the runner-up for the honor in 2012-13. The Blackhawks captain had 28 goals and 68 points in 76 games this season.

Jonathan Toews potted his third game-winning goal of the series in Chicago's 5-1 victory over St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. The Blackhawks dropped the first two games before winning the next four to knock out the Blues in the opening round of the postseason. The timely scoring of Toews was a big part of that. The Chicago captain recorded seven points in the series.

It seems clear now that the injuries to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane which sidelined the Hawks' stars for the latter part of the season, were a blessing in disguise. Toews and Kane both look fresh and have scored beautiful game-winning goals over the Blues this week to propel the Hawks into a position where they can eliminate St. Louis from the post-season on Sunday. "Getting that break coming into the playoffs got him [Toews} fresh," coach Joel Quenneville said following Friday"s game. "Lot of hockey for him (over the) last bit of time. But he's skating hard and skating well. That time away did him some good." The same can be said for Kane.

Jonathan Toews scored the overtime winner to lead Chicago to a 3-2 win over St. Louis on Friday night, taking the series lead and on the verge of advancing with a three games to two advantage over the Blues. Toews and the Hawks led 1-0 and 2-1, and ultimately stole the win during a back-and-forth Game 5. Toews has been excellent so far in these playoffs, with two goals and four assists through five games.

Jonathan Toews has been named a finalist for the 2013-14 Frank J. Selke Trophy. He ranked second on the Blackhawks in takeaways (51) and plus-minus (+26), while excelling on faceoffs (57.2 winning percentage). Toews finished the regular season with 28 goals and 68 points in 76 games. He won the award last year and has been a finalist three times in the last four seasons.

Jonathan Toews recorded two assists in Chicago's Game 4 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues. He assisted on the Blackhawks' first two goals of the contest, which gave them a 2-0 lead in an eventual 4-3 victory. Toews played 25 minutes in the win and he won 12 of his 23 faceoffs. He has a goal and five points in four matches in the series.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are likely to stick together after being reunited on the top line on Monday. Bryan Bickell rounded out Chicago's first line. Toews scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 4:10 of the first period. "As you go through a series you look for things that might possibly work," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought that line was effective (Monday night). There's a lot of ability there." Chicago will attempt to even its series against St. Louis in Game 4 on Wednesday.

Jonathan Toews scored a goal for Chicago to help lift them to a 2-0 victory over the Blues in Game 3 of their opening round playoff series Monday. The goal came just 4:10 into the contest and served to let the Blackhawks play with a lead nearly from the outset. Marcus Kruger chipped in with an empty-netter in the win.

Jonathan Toews didn't have any trouble in his return to action Thursday night after missing the Blackhawks' last six games due to an upper-body injury. He was very effective in 32:37 of game action taking four shots on goal, registering two assists, one of which came as a result of a beautiful stretch pass that hit Patrick Kane in full stride leading to a gorgeous goal. Toews should be active in all playoff pools regardless of format.