Bruins at Blackhawks
A late-season tailspin likely torpedoed the Chicago Blackhawks' bid for a division title and may have cost them a chance for home ice in the first round of the playoffs. The situation is more precarious for the Boston Bruins, who are fighting for a postseason spot as they prepare to visit the Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon.
Chicago capped a 3-1-0 road trip with a 5-4 overtime win at Winnipeg on Friday to draw within four points of second-place St. Louis in the Central Division. The Blackhawks have dropped four in a row at home, however, and have had major issues with the Bruins, who are 4-0-3 in their last seven at United Center. Boston scored only 10 goals during a 1-6-0 slide before its offense erupted in a 6-5 victory at St. Louis on Friday and sits one point behind third-place Detroit in the Atlantic Division with one game in hand. The Bruins, who also trail Philadelphia by one point for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven versus Chicago with a 4-2 home victory on March 3.
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, Sportsnet, TVA
ABOUT THE BRUINS (41-29-8): Boston has concerns on the blue line after defenseman Kevan Miller was forced to exit Friday's game with a lower-body injury and Dennis Seidenberg missing the road trip due to a similar ailment. David Krejci sparked the offensive explosion Friday by scoring twice and assisting on a pair of tallies while Patrice Bergeron reached 30 goals for the third time in his career. "You have to play desperate every night, and now we have to move forward," Bergeron said. "It's about making sure we do the job and we only worry about that one game."
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (45-26-7): Veteran Marian Hossa, who is one goal shy of 500, was back at practice Saturday after missing the previous night's game, but Andrew Shaw will sit out the contest with an upper-body injury sustained on Friday. Artemi Panarin snapped a nine-game goal-scoring drought by netting two tallies and setting up two others to boost his NHL rookie-leading totals to 27 goals and 41 points. Corey Crawford was on the ice Saturday for the first time since he was hurt on March 14 and could practice soon, coach Joel Quenneville said.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago RW Patrick Kane, who has recorded 40 goals and a league-high 96 points, has notched four tallies and four assists in 11 games against the Bruins.
2. Bergeron has registered five goals and 16 points in 13 contests versus Chicago.
3. Blackhawks D Duncan Keith will serve the second contest of his six-game suspension for swinging his stick at Minnesota's Charlie Coyle.