Blackhawks at Stars
The Chicago Blackhawks had little difficulty dispatching the Dallas Stars during a three-game sweep of the series last season. The Blackhawks look to continue that trend on Saturday, when they visit their new Central Division rivals. Patrick Kane, who recorded a goal and five assists versus Dallas last season, scored for the second straight game as Chicago improved to 4-0-1 in its last five contests with a 4-1 triumph over Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Dallas completed a perfect three-game road trip, although it needed to go the extra mile in all three contests. The Stars skated to shootout victories over Ottawa and Boston before former Bruin Rich Peverley scored 4:41 into overtime in a 4-3 win over Detroit on Thursday. Dallas won't have any time to unpack its bags as it promptly hits the road for four of the next five games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), FSN Southwest Plus (Dallas)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (10-2-4): Although he has appeared in 14 of his team's 16 games, Corey Crawford told the Chicago Sun-Times that his workhorse schedule doesn't bother him in the least. "Nah, I'm in shape. Still fairly young. No worries," the 28-year-old Crawford said. The schedule may play a role in veteran backup Nikolai Khabibulin (4.73 goals-against average) receiving another start as Chicago completes a back-to-back set with a home game versus Edmonton on Sunday.
ABOUT THE STARS (8-6-2): Captain Jamie Benn is leading by example, scoring in back-to-back games to pull into a tie with Tyler Seguin for the team lead with six goals and 15 points. His brilliant individual effort versus Detroit was a sight to behold, even if he termed the tally to be "pretty lucky ... (I) found a hole." Benn found the scoresheet in both of his contests versus the Blackhawks last season, notching an assist in an 8-1 rout on March 16 before netting both of his club's tallies in a 5-2 loss on April 15.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson suffered an upper-body injury during Friday's practice, but coach Joel Quenneville told ESPN Chicago that the defenseman "should be fine" to play versus the Stars.
2. Dallas recalled Aaron Rome from Texas and shipped fellow D Kevin Connauton to the American Hockey League club.
3. The Blackhawks outscored the Stars by a 16-5 margin last season.