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The Blackhawks start a five-game stretch against Central Division opponents when they visit the red-hot Stars for the first game of an extended home-and-home Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The two teams meet again Tuesday night in Chicago.
The Blackhawks (9-9-4) have dropped two straight after a 4-2 home loss to the Lightning on Thursday night at the United Center. Chicago’s offense sputtered against the Hurricanes and Tampa Bay with only two goals in each game after scoring four-plus in each of Chicago’s previous four games. Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defenseman Thursday in order to get defenseman Slater Koekkoek in the game against his former team, but the lineup change left captain Jonathan Toews and others looking for answers.
Jonathan Toews on going with 11 forwards: "I don’t know. I mean, things were going pretty good with the four lines and the lineup that we had. You have to ask the coaches on that one."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 22, 2019
It wasn’t all bad for the Blackhawks, who saw Patrick Kane record his 600th career assist to extend his point streak to 11 games. He has eight goals and 12 assists during his point streak and leads the team with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 22 games. His linemates, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome, are tied for for second in team scoring with 17 points each.
Dominik Kubalik will draw back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for his play off the puck against Carolina. The 24-year-old NHL rookie has five goals and nine points in 20 games.
Robin Lehner will start in net after Corey Crawford stopped 31 of 34 shots against Tampa Bay on Thursday. Lehner is 5-4-2 with a .934 save percentage and a 10.99 goals-saved above average this season. In nine career games against Dallas, he’s only 2-5-1 with a .883 save percentage.
Dallas (13-8-2) won its fifth straight Thursday with a 5-3 victory over the Jets. The Stars have outscored opponents 23-11 in that span with at least four goals in its last four.
Tyler Seguin leads Dallas in scoring with 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) ahead of second-year defenseman Miro Heiskanen’s 17 points (six goals, 11 assists). Roope Hintz is the Stars’ leading goal scorer with nine.
Dallas has fared well on faceoffs and on the penalty kill, two areas that could cause troubles for Chicago. The Stars are fourth in the league at the dot compared the Blackhawks’ woeful 22nd, and seventh on the penalty kill to Chicago’s 28th-ranked power play.
Anton Khudobin will start in net for Dallas. He’s 5-3-1 with a .921 save percentage and 3.30 GSAA this season, and has only given up nine goals in his last six starts.
Series history
The Blackhawks have won three of their last four against the Stars after losing four straight. Chicago outscored Dallas 8-2 last season, with Kane scoring four goals and two assists in the series to lead all skaters.
Tale of the tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Stars
46.3% (29th) — Corsi For — 49.7% (19th)
48.9% (t-22nd) — Faceoffs — 52.9% (4th)
2.95 (17th) — Goals per game — 2.87 (19th)
2.95 (19th) — Goals against per game — 2.39 (29th)
13.2% (28th) — Power play — 13.6% (27th)
79.7% (18th) — Penalty kill — 84.3% (7th)
Lineups
*Lineups will be updated, if needed
Blackhawks
Saad — Toews — Nylander
DeBrincat — Strome — Kane
Shaw — Kampf — Kubalik
Carpenter — Dach — Smith
Keith — Gustafsson
De Haan — Seabrook
Maatta — Murphy
Lehner
Crawford
Stars
Benn — Dowling — Seguin
Pavelski — Hintz — Radulov
Cogliano — Faksa — Comeau
Janmark — Dickinson — Perry
Lindell — Klingberg
Oleksiak — Heiskanen
Sekera — Polak
Khudobin
Bishop
How to watch
When: 7 p.m.
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Live stream: NBC Sports app