Stars at Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are in a good place as they return from a dominant two-week road trip to host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Chicago has won six straight contests and lost only four times in regulation over the first two months of the campaign – once at home. “We like our team,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s been a very positive start to our season and a great road trip. We’re very happy in all aspects of our team game.”
While the circus was in Chicago, the Blackhawks went 6-1 on their recent trip – including a 2-1 shootout win at Dallas on Friday – as Patrick Kane posted nine points. Dallas, which has dropped six straight to Chicago, had a productive month of November (7-3-2) and lost in a shootout to Edmonton on Sunday despite a season-high 45 shots. Stars’ leading goal scorer Tyler Seguin missed that game with concussion-like symptoms and is day-to-day.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TSN2, CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE STARS (12-9-4): Dallas has 14 goals in its last six games - six in a win over Anaheim - and stood seventh in the league in shots on goal through Sunday. “We’ve got to find a way to bear down,” Stars captain Jamie Benn told the Dallas Morning News. “I think we’ve been saying that for a few games now. We’re putting up a lot of shots each game, but we have to find a way to get greasier goals and get to the dirty areas.” Benn leads the team with 24 points and goalie Kari Lehtonen has an impressive .926 save percentage.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (20-4-4): Former Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith matched Kane with nine points on the trip, recording at least one in each game, and was named the NHL’s Third Star on Monday. Goalie Corey Crawford received two full games off on the trip and allowed one goal each in his last three starts, giving him a league-best 17 victories. Kane leads the team with 16 goals and 30 points while captain Jonathan Toews, Keith, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa are making big contributions to the league’s top offense.
OVERTIME
1. Sharp has a team-best 103 shots on goal for the Blackhawks and is second behind Hossa among forwards with a plus-13 rating.
2. Dallas D Jamie Oleksiak, a 2011 first-round pick, was recalled to replace injured D Stephane Robidas and played 18:38 against Edmonton in his season debut.
3. Chicago D Michal Rozsival’s next game will be the 800th of his career.