"Even as the Blackhawks' defense has found a groove and regularly is shutting down foes, its top player has been on the ice for fewer minutes.

Duncan Keith, who has led the NHL in ice time since the beginning of the season, is now second behind the Sharks' Dan Boyle in that category. Entering Tuesday night's game against the Blues at Scottrade Center, Keith has averaged 26 minutes, 50 seconds of ice time while Boyle was at 26:59.

"Everybody wants to play a lot," Keith said. "(But) it's not something that I look at at the end of the season and say, 'Wow, I wanted to lead the league in ice time.'""