Preview: Stars at Blackhawks

[February 11, 2016]  Patrick Sharp hopes to end a 5 1/2-week goal drought on Thursday when the veteran forward leads the Dallas Stars into the United Center to face the Chicago Blackhawks. Shuffled to Dallas mere weeks after Chicago claimed its third Stanley Cup title in six seasons, Sharp collected a goal and an assist in the Stars' 4-0 win over Chicago on Dec. 22 before being held off the scoresheet in a 5-1 setback to the Blackhawks on Saturday.

While Sharp is struggling to buy a goal of late, defenseman John Klingberg continued his offensive surge by netting his third overtime tally of the season on Tuesday to give Dallas a 4-3 win over sputtering Minnesota. Klingberg has scored three goals and set up another in his last four games for the Stars, who have won four of their last five to reside three points behind the Central Division-leading Blackhawks with three games in hand. Chicago saw its seven-game winning streak at the United Center end with a thud on Tuesday with a 2-0 setback to San Jose. Coach Joel Quenneville's brief but spirited rant on the officiating during the postgame conference could serve to ignite the Blackhawks, who fell for just the fourth time in 20 outings.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN Chicago

ABOUT THE STARS (34-15-5): Sluggish out of the All-Star break, captain Jamie Benn has shown signs of heating up by setting up Tyler Seguin for Dallas' lone goal versus Chicago and adding two assists versus the Wild. Speaking of Seguin, the 24-year-old also set up a pair of tallies versus Minnesota to run his point total to five (three goals, two assists) in his last four games. Former Blackhawk Antti Niemi, who could get the nod on Thursday, has been idle since he yielded three goals on 11 shots in the first period of Saturday's tilt.

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (36-17-4): Artem Anisimov recorded his second career four-point performance after collecting a goal and three assists in Saturday's tilt with Dallas. Artemi Panarin set up a pair of tallies against the Stars to lead all rookies with 52 points, but is questionable to play on Thursday after an illness forced him to the sideline against the Sharks. Linemate Patrick Kane, who leads the league in goals (32) and points (76), scored in the last meeting versus Dallas and has 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) in 32 career encounters.

OVERTIME

1. Chicago RW Marian Hossa has scored twice in his last three contests and resides four goals shy of 500 for his career.

2. Dallas has won each of its last three road games.

3. Blackhawks LW Teuvo Teravainen is mired in a 15-game goal drought.

PREDICTION: Stars 4, Blackhawks 2

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