Stars at Blackhawks
THE STORY: The Chicago Blackhawks are working their way back up the Central Division without captain Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks have won four straight behind some stellar goaltending from Corey Crawford and even managed to take out the division-leading Detroit Red Wings with Toews out of the lineup on Tuesday. The Dallas Stars can’t match Chicago on the offensive end but snapped a skid on the back of some strong goaltending from Kari Lehtonen in their last game. Lehtonen made 37 saves in a 2-1 win over Chicago on Oct. 7.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSSW (Dallas), CSCH (Chicago)
ABOUT THE STARS (30-26-4): Dallas is on the outside of the playoff race right now, currently sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference, two points behind eighth-place Los Angeles. The Stars have been terrible offensively of late, averaging 1.8 goals in their previous six games before breaking out in a 3-0 triumph at Montreal on Tuesday. Dallas has managed more than three tallies only once in its last 11 contests. Lehtonen has not allowed more than three goals in any of his last eight starts but has only three wins in that span. The Stars took the season opener, 2-1, from the Blackhawks at home but fell at Chicago, 5-2, the following night.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (33-21-7): Chicago appeared to be sinking its way to the playoff bubble in with a nine-game slide but has since won four in a row, outscoring opponents by a combined 15-5. Crawford has gotten the win in each game while posting a save percentage of .958. Toews, who missed Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Red Wings with an upper-body injury, is day-to-day but will likely sit on Thursday and return to the lineup over the weekend, when the Blackhawks head to Southern California. Chicago sits in fourth place in the Central, three points behind the Nashville Predators.
OVERTIME:
1. The home team has taken the last four meetings.
2. Lehtonen is 4-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average in five career starts against Chicago.
3. Crawford is 2-3-0 with a 3.08 GAA against Dallas.