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Chicago Blackhawks (43-21-6) at Dallas Stars (33-28-10) 7PM Central CSN Chicago/FS Southwest
THE BUZZ
The Blackhawks are coming off a big win in New York Thursday night and trending upward of late with a series of solid victories. They aren't playing perfectly—still giving up uncharacteristically high shot totals—but they are playing as well or better than they have since the first of the year.
The preseason darlings of many, Dallas is still conceivably in the hunt for a playoff spot. And they are not a bad team by any stretch. This is a tough challenge and a very important game for the Hawks as they remain in striking distance of both the Blues and Nashville with games in hand.
THE NUMBERS
Power Play Chicago, 15th, 18.2% Dallas, 18th, 17.9%
Penalty Kill Chicago, 2nd, 86.3% Dallas, 22nd, 80.4%
THE LINEUPS (PROJECTED)
Chicago
Sharp Toews Hossa Saad Vermette Teravainen Bickell Richards Versteeg Desjardins Kruger Shaw
Tomonen Seabrook Keith Rozsival Oduya Hjalmarsson
Crawford
Dallas
Benn Eakin Seguin Eaves Spezza Hemsky Roussel Fiddler Sceviour McKenzie Horcoff Ritchie
Jokipakka Goligoski Benn Demers Nemeth Klingberg
Lehtonen
All for now,
JJ