Blackhawks at Jets
After bringing the Stanley Cup back to his hometown on two occasions, captain Jonathan Toews plays his first regular-season contest in Winnipeg on Saturday, when he leads the Chicago Blackhawks against the now-Central Division rival Jets. "It's going to be exciting," Toews said. "When anyone asks me why I wanted to be a hockey player, that's where it all started - watching the Winnipeg Jets play as a young kid." Toews is leading by example as he notched his third career regular-season hat trick in Chicago's 6-5 triumph over Ottawa on Tuesday.
While the Blackhawks have won two straight, Winnipeg has dropped four of its last five (1-2-2) - with each contest decided by just one goal. Despite his team's troubles, Blake Wheeler has collected four of his five goals in that stretch. Wheeler's power-play tally wasn't enough on Tuesday, however, as the Jets are coming off a 3-2 setback to St. Louis.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, NHLN, WGN (Chicago), CBC (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (8-2-3): Nikolai Khabibulin is struggling mightily this season, yielding goals on 10 of his last 47 shots over the last two games. Corey Crawford, who came on in relief versus Ottawa, has been tabbed to start Saturday and also may get the nod in the latter half of the back-to-back set versus Calgary on Sunday. Forwards Michal Handzus (upper body) and Brad Mills (lower body) did not accompany the team to Manitoba and have been ruled out of the contest.
ABOUT THE JETS (5-7-2): Defenseman Tobias Enstrom has taken his name out of the running for Sweden's Olympic team. "I just felt that I want to focus on Winnipeg here and the team and really push for the playoffs," Enstrom said. "I want to take that time to rest and just be healthy." Enstrom, who played for the Swedes in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, has never made the postseason in his six previous seasons in the NHL.
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg C Bryan Little has scored in consecutive games and leads the team with seven tallies.
2. Sharing the team lead in goals (seven) with RW Patrick Kane, Toews has recorded five tallies and four assists during his five-game point streak.
3. Winnipeg's Ben Chiarot could be in line to make his NHL debut with fellow D Mark Stuart nursing a hip injury.