Preview: Blackhawks at Islanders

[January 02, 2014]  Starting goaltender Corey Crawford makes his return to the lineup when the Chicago Blackhawks visit the New York Islanders on Friday in the opener of a brief two-game road trip. Crawford, who helped the Blackhawks win their second Stanley Cup in four seasons in 2013, missed the last 10 games with a lower-body injury, but Chicago went 7-1-2 in his absence. "I'm excited to start playing again," Crawford said. "It's been a little bit too long. It will be nice to get back into a game."

The Islanders are buried in the basement of the Metropolitan Division but are coming off a pair of dramatic come-from-behind victories at Minnesota and Boston, erasing a three-goal deficit against the Wild and rallying from 3-1 down versus the Bruins. New York has won four straight on the road, but it needs to find a way to translate that success to its home rink. The Islanders have dropped eight straight (0-4-4) at Nassau Coliseum and gone a franchise-record 10 games (1-5-4) without a regulation home win.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN (Chicago), MSG Plus (New York)

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (28-7-7): Patrick Kane, who is second to Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby in the league scoring race, was a shoo-in to make the United States Olympic Team while teammate Brandon Saad was skipped over. Saad has scored in two straight games, and his 16 goals and 30 points have already surpassed his totals (10, 27) from last season's rookie campaign. "He's a threat. He's dangerous every time he touches the puck and has a nice pace to his game,” coach Joel Quenneville said of Saad. "I've seen a lot of signs of improvement.”

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (13-21-7): One of the more noteworthy snubs for the American Olympic squad was Kyle Okposo, who is second on the team to captain John Tavares with 15 goals and 25 assists in 40 games. Okposo also is on a tear with five goals and six assists during a seven-game point streak and is coming off the first back-to-back three-point performances of his career. Tavares registered a pair of goals and two assists in the victory over Boston for the seventh four-point effort of his career.

OVERTIME

1. Chicago has points in seven straight games (5-0-2).
   

2. Islanders LW Thomas Vanek has recorded three goals and six assists during a six-game point streak.
   

3. Crawford has allowed four goals in winning both career starts against New York.
   

PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Islanders 2

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