Blackhawks at Kings
Buoyed by only their second road win of the season, the Los Angeles Kings return home for a high-profile matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in the first meeting between the teams since their riveting seven-game series in the Western Conference final last season. Los Angeles ousted the Blackhawks in overtime of Game 7 en route to its second Stanley Cup in three seasons. Although the Kings have struggled on the road, they are 10-2-1 and have won three straight at Staples Center.
Chicago will be playing the finale of its six-game Circus Trip, improving to 4-1-0 following an impressive 4-1 victory at Anaheim on Friday. Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter spoke in glowing terms of the Blackhawks, who have won seven of nine and sit three points out of the lead in the Central Division. "Even though we’re in different divisions, they’re such a benchmark," Sutter said. "We’ve talked to our team about it. You look at that division they’re in, and why the division is like it is now, it’s cause of Chicago, clearly."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (14-8-1): Backup netminder Antti Raanta was scheduled to start a week ago at Edmonton in the second stop of the road trip before falling ill, which has resulted in Corey Crawford starting every game in November. Quenneville on Friday wouldn't commit to a starter and had to decide between sending out Crawford for a 14th consecutive start or give Raanta the nod, which would mark his first appearance since Oct. 25. Crawford is 6-3-0 lifetime against the Kings, but gave up the lead three times in last season's Game 7 loss, while Raanta has won both career starts against Los Angeles and allowed only one goal.
ABOUT THE KINGS (12-6-5): Sutter raised some eyebrows by giving Martin Jones both starts in a back-to-back to close out the team's three-game road trip, but the backup netminder responded with his first shutout of the season in Wednesday's 4-0 victory at Minnesota. Starter Jonathan Quick, who has won three straight at home while allowing two goals in each, had no qualms with Sutter's decision to go with Jones on successive nights. “You always want to play, but I thought it was good for the team. 'Joner' played well,” Quick said. "We got three out of the four points in two pretty tough buildings, so that was important."
OVERTIME
1. Blackhawks F Patrick Kane has six goals and seven assists in his last seven games.
2. Kings F Justin Williams is riding a six-game point streak.
3. Blackhawks D Brent Seabrook extended his point streak to seven games with an assist Friday.