Blackhawks at Sharks
THE STORY: Two struggling teams face off Friday when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion. Chicago enters having lost eight consecutive road games (0-6-2) and six in a row overall. The Blackhawks, whose last road victory came on Dec. 14 at Minnesota, is 0-3-1 on their season-high nine-game road trip. San Jose had dropped two straight contests and five of eight. However, the Sharks have won five of their last seven home matches.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (29-18-7): Barring a major tear over the final 28 games of the season, Patrick Kane likely will not match his 2010-11 total of 27 goals. The All-Star has 12 tallies in 54 contests and just three over his last 21 matches. Brent Seabrook has reached the 20-point plateau for the seventh time in as many NHL seasons. He is the fifth defenseman in franchise history to accomplish the feat and second on the current roster (Duncan Keith).
ABOUT THE SHARKS (29-16-6): All-Star Logan Couture has remained hot since the break, recording two goals and four assists in four games. The 22-year-old has collected five tallies and five assists during his seven-game points streak. Defenseman Dan Boyle could miss his second straight contest with flu-like symptoms. Joe Pavelski joined teammate Patrick Marleau, Jeff Friesen, Marco Sturm and Jonathan Cheechoo as the only players to play the first 400 games of their careers with San Jose. Andrew Murray cleared waivers and was assigned to Worcester of the American Hockey League. Murray registered a goal and three assists in 39 games with the Sharks.
OVERTIME:
1. The home team has won four straight in the all-time series, with each of the last three meetings being decided by one goal.
2. Chicago has allowed 27 goals during its losing streak and 19 over the first four games of its road trip.
3. The Blackhawks are 6-14-3 over their last 23 visits to San Jose.