With the Blackhawks continuing to work their way into the playoff picture, star forward Patrick Kane continues to have one of the best seasons of his 12-year career. With 35 goals and 52 assists, Kane is among the top scoring forwards in the NHL. He’s on pace to break his 106-point season from 2015-2016, and is riding a 17-game point streak into Monday night’s contest, when the Blackhawks host the Senators at the United Center.
Along with Kane, team captain Jonathan Toews also is on a point streak. Toews has scored four goals in his last five games, which accounts for half of the scoring output for the top line. Speaking of career resurgences, Toews has already matched his highest point total of the last three seasons with 58 points. He’s also on pace to set a season-high point total since 2013-14.
Collin Delia will start between the pipes for the first time since last Tuesday in Boston. The 24-year-old holds a 6-3 record with a .916 save percentage and a 3.22 goals-against average.
Anders Nilsson will get the start in goal for the Senators over Craig Anderson. The former Blackhawk Anderson’s status was raised to “probable” after suffering an eye injury from a tennis ball. Nilsson has a 10-14-1 record with a 2.77 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
The Senators haven’t provided much help for their goaltenders defensively, as Ottawa allows an average of roughly 37 shots on goal per game (second worst to the Blackhawks). While top defensive line of Thomas Chabot and Dylan DeMelo have held their weight for the most part, the rest of the Ottawa defense has barely been able to function. To make matters worse, Mark Borowiecki has been on injured reserve since last November with an undisclosed injury.
Chicago leads the all-time series with Ottawa, 23-10-2. The Blackhawks also hold a 11-3-2 record over the Senators at the United Center.
Blackhawks
Caggiula — Toews — Kane
DeBrincat — Strome — Kahun
Saad — Anisimov — Sikura
Kunitz — Kruger — Perlini
Keith — Seabrook
Dahlstrom — Murphy
Koekkoek — Gustafsson
Senators
Dzingel — Duchene — Ryan
Tkachuk — White — Stone
Smith — Pageau — Paajarvi
Boedker — Tierney — Balcers
Chabot — DeMelo
Lajoie — Ceci
Harpur — Jaros
Nilsson
Anderson
How to watch
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBC Sports Chicago