Wild at Blackhawks
Having had a day to recover from their worst loss of the season, the Chicago Blackhawks attempt to regain the division lead when they host the Central-rival Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Chicago saw its road slide reach three games Friday with its fourth shutout defeat of the season, a 6-0 trouncing in Washington that halted its four-game winning streak.
All of those victories came during a four-game homestand that featured strong offensive efforts by Patrick Kane, who recorded a goal and seven assists to rank among the league leaders with 45 points. The Blackhawks saw their hold on first place in the Central slip away as Minnesota claimed the spot by posting a 5-4 in Dallas on Saturday. Jason Zucker snapped a third-period tie for the Wild, who watched an early 4-0 lead disappear before improving to 16-1-2 since the beginning of December. Minnesota, which has four games in hand on Chicago, hopes its offense remains in high gear after scoring a total of 12 goals in its last two contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE WILD (27-9-5): Eric Staal has bounced back nicely from a disappointing 2015-16, as he already has matched the 39 points he totaled in 83 games last season. The 32-year-old center, who leads Minnesota in goals (15), assists (24) and points, has collected four tallies and five assists during his five-game point streak and been kept off the scoresheet just once in his last 15 contests. Staal, Zucker and Nino Niederreiter have combined for half of the Wild's goals over the last two games, scoring two apiece.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (27-13-5): Nick Schmaltz is back for another stint with the club after being recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Saturday. The 20-year-old center, who was selected 20th overall in the 2014 draft, recorded one goal and three assists in 26 games with Chicago earlier this season — his first in the NHL. Marian Hossa needs one assist to snap a tie with Alex Kovalev and become the 84th player in league history to register 600 in his career.
OVERTIME
1. Zucker has set a career high of 28 points after notching a goal and an assist on Saturday.
2. Chicago D Brian Campbell's next point will be the 500th of his career while C Marcus Kruger is two shy of the century mark.
3. Minnesota swept its five-game series against Chicago last season.