Kings at Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks look to build off their first victory of the month as they continue their five-game homestand Monday against the Los Angeles Kings. Chicago opened February with eight straight setbacks (0-7-1) and took out its frustrations on Washington on Saturday as 12 different players landed on the scoresheet in a 7-1 triumph.
Captain Jonathan Toews led the way with a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks improved to 1-1-0 on their homestand and climbed within 11 points of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles trails the Wild by two points after ending its three-game slide with a 4-2 win over Sabres on Saturday, its first victory in Buffalo since Feb. 21, 2003. Captain Anze Kopitar and Michael Amadio each scored twice for the Kings, who also are two points behind Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division. Kopitar leads the team in scoring (63 points) and has netted six of his club-high 25 tallies over his last seven contests.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, FS West (Los Angeles), WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE KINGS (31-22-5): Kopitar has been kept off the scoresheet in only three of his last 19 games, collecting eight goals and 15 assists in that span while registering seven multi-point performances. The 30-year-old Slovenian is one point away from reaching 800 for his career. Dustin Brown notched a pair of assists against the Sabres and is two shy of 300 in the NHL.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (25-26-8): Patrick Kane ended his five-game point drought Saturday with a goal and an assist, with the latter being the 500th of his career. The 29-year-old former Hart Trophy winner, who is slated to skate in his 800th career game on Monday, is just the fifth member of the Blackhawks - and 29th in NHL history - to record 300 goals and 500 assists. Artem Anisimov leads the team with nine power-play goals, which matches his total over the previous two seasons combined.
OVERTIME
1. Blackhawks rookie RW Alex DeBrincat is riding a four-game point streak during which he has recorded three goals and two assists.
2. Los Angeles D Dion Phaneuf has gotten off to a good start since being acquired from Ottawa, scoring a goal in his debut before finishing with a plus-2 rating on Saturday.
3. Chicago D Carl Dahlstrom notched an assist Saturday for his first point in five NHL contests.