Blackhawks at Hurricanes
The road has been kind to the Chicago Blackhawks of late, and the Western Conference leaders hope the trend continues Friday as they resume their three-game trek against the Carolina Hurricanes. Chicago has posted four consecutive road victories, including a 3-2 triumph in Nashville on Thursday that halted the team's three-game skid overall (0-2-1).
Patrick Kane set up captain Jonathan Toews' tying goal just over 11 minutes into the third period and scored one of his own less than four minutes later to lead the Blackhawks to victory and reach the 700-point plateau for his career. It will be no easy task for Chicago to emerge victorious at PNC Arena, where the Hurricanes are 10-3-1 on the season and riding a 10-game point streak (9-0-1). Carolina is coming off its first regulation loss in six overall contests, a 3-2 setback at Pittsburgh on Wednesday in which it squandered a 2-1 lead in the third period. The Hurricanes would love to see Victor Rask regain his scoring touch, as the 23-year-old center ranks second on the team with 10 goals but has recorded just one in his last 10 games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), FSN Carolinas
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (23-10-5): Artemi Panarin enters Friday with a team-high 38 points and a nine-game streak during which he has collected five goals and 10 assists. The 25-year-old Russian set up one tally against the Predators to cap an eventful day that also saw him agree to terms on a two-year contract extension. Kane has averaged better than a point per game in his career, as he has skated in 696 contests since being drafted first overall in 2007.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (15-12-7): With Justin Faulk listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, fellow defenseman Ryan Murphy was in the lineup Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 10 and recorded an assist and a plus-1 rating in 18 minutes, 36 seconds of ice time. "He was good," coach Bill Peters told reporters. "He came in and moved the puck. I thought he did some good things." The 23-year-old Murphy has notched a pair of assists in five games this season but has not scored a goal since April 9, 2015.
OVERTIME
1. Blackhawks C Artem Anisimov has scored a goal in each of his two games since returning from a stint on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury and five of his last six contests overall.
2. Carolina LW Jeff Skinner leads the team with 27 points and is six away from 300 for his career while D Ron Hainsey is three assists shy of 200.
3. Chicago D Brian Campbell was a healthy scratch Thursday, ending his streak of 423 consecutive games played.