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 "It seems like for whatever reason, the season's been up and down
throughout the whole year," forward Patrick Kane said after Chicago
suffered a 5-0 setback against Los Angeles on Monday. "You go on
stretches where you win 12 in a row, and we've got this little
stretch going right now. Obviously, we want to shore that up before
the playoffs and make sure we're going in there feeling consistent
about our game." While Chicago is locked in a three-team tussle with
Dallas and St. Louis atop the Central Division, Philadelphia posted
a 4-3 win over Detroit on Tuesday to improve to 7-1-1 in its last
five contests and move within one point of the Red Wings for the
second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Michal Neuvirth,
who is expected to get the nod on Wednesday, turned aside all 30
shots he faced in a 3-0 win over Chicago on Oct. 14.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVA
ABOUT THE FLYERS (33-23-12): Michael Raffl scored twice on Tuesday
for his third multi-point performance in his last five games (four
goals, three assists). Fellow forward Wayne Simmonds also tallied
versus the Red Wings and has notched eight points (four goals, four
assists) in his last eight contests. Captain Claude Giroux, who
recorded an assist against Detroit, tallied versus Chicago for his
12th point (three goals, nine assists) in nine career regular-season
meetings with the club.
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ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (41-23-6): Coach Joel Quenneville traditionally
isn't shy about tinkering with his lines, and Tuesday's practice saw
Kane paired with captain Jonathan Toews and Tomas Fleischmann while
Russians Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov were joined by veteran
Marian Hossa. Teuvo Teravainen (illness) missed practice on Tuesday,
but Quenneville told the Blackhawks' website that he "could play"
against the Flyers. Scott Darling is slated to make his first start
since March 3 and looks to improve upon his 4-0-0 record and slim
1.09 goals-against average at home.
OVERTIME
1. Kane, who netted the Stanley Cup-clinching goal against
Philadelphia in 2010, has been limited to just one tally for his
lone point in five games.
2. The Flyers have killed off 24 of their last 27 short-handed
situations over the last 11 contests.
3. The Blackhawks are 0-for-11 on the power play in their last two
games after scoring seven times with the man advantage in the
previous five contests.
PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Flyers 1
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