Hurricanes at Blackhawks
The Carolina Hurricanes are looking to locate the brakes on their epic slide down the Eastern Conference standings before their postseason aspirations go by the boards. Losers of eight of their last 10 (2-6-2), the Hurricanes aim to get back on track Thursday when they play the second contest of their three-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"You've got to remember how that feels. Not a very good feeling, not a lot of fun playing like that, so you've got to remember that," Carolina coach Bill Peters said after watching his team fall four points behind Columbus for the final wild-card spot following Tuesday's 6-2 setback in Minnesota. Jeff Skinner set up a goal for the third time in five outings on Tuesday and also tallied in the Hurricanes' 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago on Nov. 11. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews had an assist in that contest and increased his point total to nine (three goals, six assists) in his past 10 games by scoring nine seconds into overtime in Tuesday's 2-1 victory versus Colorado. "It's fun in front of our fans to give them something to cheer about," Toews said after Chicago posted its fourth win in five outings at the United Center on the heels of losing its previous seven in a row at home.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Carolinas, NBCS Chicago
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (29-27-11): Scott Darling has struggled mightily since signing a four-year, $16.6 million contract with Carolina on April 28, but that doesn't mean that the 29-year-old isn't relishing his return to the Windy City. "It's something I've been looking forward to," Darling told the Daily Herald. "Obviously, it's going to be weird, but I feel like once the puck drops, it will be just another game." Fellow former Blackhawk Teuvo Teravainen, who has recorded career highs in goals (19), assists (33), points (52) and power-play points (17), saw his goal and point streak come to a halt at four games on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (29-30-8): Brandon Saad and rookie Alex DeBrincat were denied a goal by a video review and a stellar save by Semyon Varlamov, respectively, but the duo came up large in the previous encounter versus the Hurricanes. Saad scored 1:44 into overtime and DeBrincat collected two goals and an assist for his first three-point performance of his career. Fellow forward Patrick Kane, who has more than his fair share of those types of outings, set up Toews on his overtime winner to boost his point total to 10 (three goals, seven assists) in his past nine games.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina LW Brock McGinn has scored just six goals in 52 games since tallying twice in the first meeting with Chicago.
2. The Blackhawks' 28th-ranked power play is 2-for-18 in the last eight contests.
3. Hurricanes C Derek Ryan has scored two goals in his last three outings and had two assists in the first encounter with Chicago.