The Blackhawks will try to extend their winning streak to four games when they visit the Maple Leafs on Saturday in Toronto.
Chicago (22-20-6) has won seven of its past 10 games with only three games remaining before the NHL All-Star break. The Blackhawks have gone on this roll without one of their best forwards in Brandon Saad, who will return Saturday after missing 12 games with a right-ankle injury. He has 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) in 35 games this season, and will slot into the lineup for Dylan Sikura.
Patrick Kane has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) during an eight-game point streak, which has put him two points shy of 1,000 for his career. He would be the youngest American-born player to reach the milestone.
Dominik Kubalik and Jonathan Toews have also been racking up points on the top line together. Kubalik has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past seven games, while Toews has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a four-game point streak.
Corey Crawford will make his second straight start after he made 32 saves in Chicago’s 4-1 win against the Canadiens on Wednesday in his hometown of Montreal. He’s 5-1 in his career against Toronto, including allowing one goal in each of his past two starts.
Toronto (25-16-7) is coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to Calgary on Thursday to drop the Leafs to 1-2-2 in their past five games after a 9-0-1 stretch. The Leafs, however, have found the back of the net often with at least four goals in 12 of their past 15 games.
Mitch Marner had his eight-game point streak (three goals, eight assists) end in the loss Thursday. Auston Matthews is carrying the Leafs with 14 points (10 goals, four assists) in the past nine games.
Frederik Andersen, who 22-8-6 with a 2.80 goals-against average and .912 save percentage with one shutout this season, is expected to start for the Leafs. He’s 3-3-3 in his career against the Blackhawks.
Sheldon Keefe said #Leafs have some game-time decisions forthcoming with regards to lineup vs. Blackhawks. Certain guys dealing with things, will take warmups and decide from there who’s in.
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 18, 2020
Season series
The Blackhawks have won two in a row by identical 5-4 totals against the Maple Leafs, including a victory Nov. 10 in Chicago. Prior to the past two games in the series, four straight games went to overtime and one went to a shootout. The Blackhawks are on a four-game point streak in Toronto with 3-0-1 record since Jan. 15, 2016.
Brothers clash
Chicago’s Alex Nylander and Toronto’s William Nylander will face off for the fifth time in their NHL careers. William is averaging a point per game against Alex after scoring two goals earlier this season in Chicago. Alex has one goal in the series.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Maple Leafs
48.3% (23nd) — Corsi For — 52.72% (6th)
46.35% (29th) — Expected goals for — 51.33% (13th)
2.9 (20th) — Goals per game — 3.6 (t-2nd)
3.1 (t-17th) — Goals against per game — 3.23 (23rd)
50% (t-16th) — Faceoffs — 52.8% (3rd)
15.6% (27th) — Power play — 24.1% (5th)
83% (8th) — Penalty kill — 76.1% (25th)
Lineups
Blackhawks
Kubalik — Toews — Caggiula
Saad — Carpenter — Kane
DeBrincat — Dach— Kampf
Highmore — Smith — A. Nylander
Keith — Boqvist
Gustafsson — Murphy
Maatta — Koekkoek
Crawford
Lehner
Maple Leafs
Hyman — Matthews — Marner
Johnsson — Tavares — W. Nylander
Engvall – Kerfoot – Kapanen
N/A — Brooks – Spezza
Dermott – Holl
Marincin – Barrie
Sandin – Ceci
Liljegren
Andersen
Hutchinson
How to watch
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
TV: NBC Sports Chicago, NHL Network
Live stream: NBC Sports app, NHL.TV