Preview: Blackhawks at Stars

[February 04, 2017]  The Chicago Blackhawks will vie for their fourth victory in as many meetings with the Dallas Stars on Saturday when the Central Division rivals reconvene at American Airlines Center. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane has scored two goals and set up two others in the first three encounters with Dallas and increased his point total to 14 (five goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games with a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-3 victory over Arizona.

Veteran Marian Hossa, who scored in overtime of a 4-3 win over the Stars on Nov. 6, netted his team-leading 19th goal on Thursday as the Blackhawks overcame an uneven performance and ended a three-game skid to improve to 1-1-0 on their six-game road trip. "Stopped the bleeding," coach Joel Quenneville told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Knowing three games in a row we didn't get points in that situation. It's almost like, 'OK, let's see how we handle it.'" Dallas captain Jamie Benn has handled everything that has come his way of late, scoring a goal and setting up two others in Thursday's 4-3 loss to Winnipeg to increase his point streak to a season-best five games (four goals, three assists). "Just trying to get better and help this team get into a playoff spot," Benn said of his recent stretch for the Stars, who are 0-2-1 against Chicago this season and 2-1-2 heading into the finale of their six-game homestand.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NHL Network, WGN (Chicago), FSN Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (33-17-5): Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin scored and set up a goal on Thursday, marking his first multi-point performance since an impressive four-game stretch from Dec. 13-18. Panarin gave a hint as to what was to come in the preceding game by scoring a power-play goal in a 3-1 victory over Dallas on Dec. 11. Chicago, which is 2-for-13 with the man advantage against the Stars this season, tallied twice while on the power play against the Coyotes after being mired in a 1-for-20 stretch in the previous eight games.

ABOUT THE STARS (21-21-10): Veteran forward Jason Spezza is expected to be sidelined at least a week with an upper-body injury, coach Lindy Ruff told reporters following Friday's optional workout. "Right now we really don't have a timeframe on it, but it's more than days," Ruff said of the 33-year-old Spezza, who was injured in the third period on Thursday following a hit by Adam Lowry. Veteran forward Jiri Hudler could draw back in the lineup in place of Spezza after missing the last two days with a personal situation.

OVERTIME

1. Dallas RW Patrick Eaves (team-leading 19 goals) has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past seven games.

2. Blackhawks D Duncan Keith has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past 14 contests.

3. The Central Division rivals will conclude their five-game season series at the United Center on March 23.

PREDICTION: Stars 4, Blackhawks 3

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