Jets at Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks look to get their sputtering offense untracked when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. The Blackhawks mustered 47 shots in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Toronto, marking the seventh time in nine contests that they've scored two goals or fewer. "Sooner or later, they’re going to start going in for us, and that’s when we become a scary team to play against," Chicago center Andrew Shaw said.
While the Blackhawks fell to 2-4-0 in their last six games, Winnipeg improved to 4-1-1 in that stretch with a 1-0 shootout victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday. Ondrej Pavelec finished with 38 saves and stopped three shots in the shootout to record his first shutout in almost a calendar year. Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler scored in the bonus format for the Jets, who are 2-0-1 on their four-game road trip.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE JETS (5-5-1): Captain Andrew Ladd has been held off the scoresheet in each of his last two contests after erupting for four goals and two assists during his four-game point streak. Ladd has scored two goals and set up two others in six career meetings with his former team. Fellow ex-Blackhawk Dustin Byfuglien also has four points (one goal, three assists) against Chicago but has been kept off the scoresheet in eight of his last 10 games.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (6-4-1): Antti Raanta is expected to make his first start since Oct. 25 after Corey Crawford returned from a two-week absence due to an upper-body injury and made 24 saves versus the Maple Leafs. Raanta registered his second career shutout in his first start of 2014-15, stopping all 32 shots he faced versus Philadelphia before yielding three goals in each of his next two contests. Coach Joel Quenneville expects Niklas Hjalmarsson to play on Sunday, calling him "a warrior" after the defenseman was bloodied by a puck to the face in the second period and later was hit by a shot in the third.
OVERTIME
1. The Blackhawks won three of the four meetings with their Central Division rival last season.
2. Winnipeg has thwarted its opponents' last six power plays after yielding goals with the man advantage in each of its previous five contests.
3. Chicago has killed 19-of-20 short-handed situations over its last seven games.