Most years, the Blackhawks would be thrilled to come home from their annual Circus Trip with nine of a possible 12 points. But after winning the first four games of the trip in overwhelming fashion, only getting one point in the final two games leaves the feeling that the Hawks let something get away.

The Blackhawks tried to bounce back after being shut out in Anaheim, but again struggled to get their offense going. The defense was significantly better than it was on Friday afternoon, but the groove on offense took two periods to appear on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

In the first, the Hawks shut down the Kings just as they did in Chicago a couple weeks ago. The score ended tied at zero, but the Hawks only allowed four shots on Cristobal Huet.

The second period saw more shots getting to both goalies, and the Kings getting on the board first. Wayne Simmonds got the puck past Huet to make the score 1-0 Kings. However, the Hawks killed three penalties in the second period, as they effectively got back to their excellent defense on the penalty kill; the Hawks allowed all three goals in Anaheim with a man advantage, but entered action as the second best penalty killing team in the league.

In the third, Jonathan Toews got the Hawks back onto the scoreboard after over 153 minutes between goals with a nice putback of a rebound in traffic to tie the game. Patrick Kane threw a hard shot at Jonathan Quick that escaped his grasp, and Toews was there to capitalize. Quick had a magnificent game for Los Angeles, saving 32 of 33 shots he faced in the game to earn the win.

The game extended through a lackluster overtime period, and then came the shootout. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were Chicago’s first two shooters, and both failed to beat Quick. Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson scored on Los Angeles’ first two attempts on Huet, and the game ended with the Hawks receiving just one point for the 2-1 loss.

Dustin Byfuglien served two more penalty minutes in the game, while Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson also spent time in detention. Duncan Keith had an assist on Toews’ goal to give him ten points in his last ten games.

The loss delays coach Joel Quenneville achieving 500 career victories until the Hawks return home on December 1, when they host Columbus.

Jonathan Toews' impact on Monday's 4-1 win over LA was obvious.

There shouldn’t be any question about Jonathan Toews’ value to the Chicago Blackhawks after Monday night.

It appeared all of the Blackhawks’ ills were cured by the return of their captain, even without Dave Bolland in the lineup, as the Hawks played perhaps their most complete game of the season.

The Los Angeles Kings came in with one of the best offenses in the NHL, and the Hawks had struggled to put points on the board. Specifically, the Blackhawks’ power play had been a sore spot; the Hawks had scored three goals on their last 33 power plays entering Monday’s action.

But Toews returned in a way that felt like a JRR Tolkein script, leading the Hawks to a dominating defensive performance and a steady scoring offense.

Almost everything that could have been considered wrong with the Blackhawks appeared to be fixed on Monday night. The power play, that didn’t exist for a couple weeks, scored on two of three opportunities. The third period, in which the Hawks were the lightest scoring team in the league, saw them score three goals to blow open a 1-1 tie. And Cristobal Huet was spectacular when called upon, stopping 17 of the 18 shots the high-powered Kings offense threw at him.

Troy Brouwer had his best performance of the season, scoring his fourth goal, adding two assists and being credited with six hits in the win. Brouwer and Toews both scored power play goals in the third period as the Hawks extended their lead, and Andrew Ebbett capped the scoring with his first goal with the Blackhawks, redirecting a Brian Campbell shot with what appeared to be his face.

The Blackhawks defense backed up claims that they’re the best in the NHL by holding the prolific Kings to their lowest shot total of the season so far (18). Huet was great in net, handling shots in traffic and after a few sloppy turnovers right in front of him by Duncan Keith and Campbell in the second period.

Chicago had 18 takeaways to the Kings’ seven, and were credited with 25 hits to LA’s 22. Overall the performance from the Blackhawks was nearly complete.

But it all comes back to Toews. In his first action since October 21, he led Chicago forwards in ice time (19:09), won 13 of 20 faceoffs, scored the power play goal and also drew a key penalty late in the third period to help the Hawks put the game away. Despite his absence being caused by a concussions, he didn’t shy away from contact; Toews was also credited with two hit on Monday night.