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Game Preview : Strange Days Indeed, Most Peculiar Mama

Season Series

Date Score W. Goal
Apr 15 ’13
Mar 16 ’13 CHI 8 at DAL 1 J. Toews
Jan 24 ’13 CHI 3 at DAL 2 – OT M. Hossa

Tonight’s game is the third and final regular season meeting of the season, and the only trip to the United Center for the Dallas Stars. It is also a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the NHL, with both teams winning their last five games. I don’t we are going to see much as far as changes to the lines from yesterday. We could see Daniel Carcillo in for Brandon Bollig and probably Michal Rozsvial in for Sheldon Brookbank. Patrick Sharp is most likely out for tonight’s contest, which is fine. It appears that Ray Emery will be given the start in net tonight, but no official word as be given yet. It would be Razor’s first look at the Stars this season. Emery is 2-2-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .901 save % in his career versus Dallas.

This is a very different Stars team than we saw on March 16th when we clubbed them 8-1. The Stars were one of the biggest sellers at the trade deadline as they shipped off their captain Branden Morrow along with Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy. Problem is nobody has told the rest of the team they are supposed to be any good. Their recent hot streak has them just 2 points out of a playoff spot. Another key player missing is goalie Kari Lehtonen, who has missed the last two games with a lower body injury. Richard Bachman will make his third start tonight and only the second in his career against the Blackhawks. Bachman did give up 4 goals against the Hawks when he came in to relieve Lehtonen the last meeting in Dallas. For you history buffs, it is rather fitting to be playing this franchise as today marks the 20th anniversary of their last game as the Minnesota North Stars.

Probable Blackhawks lineup

Forwards

Brandon SaadJonathan ToewsMarian Hossa
Marcus KrugerDave BollandPatrick Kane
Bryan BickellAndrew ShawViktor Stalberg
Brandon Bollig – Michal HandzusMichael Frolik

Defensive Pairings

Duncan KeithNiklas Hjalmarsson
Nick LeddyBrent Seabrook
Johnny OduyaMichal Rozsival

Goaltender

Ray Emery 15-1-0, 1.90 GAA, .924 save %, 3 SO

Injuries

Patrick Sharp (upper body) OUT

Leading Scorers

Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW
P. Kane 41 20 26 46 14 6 8 2
J. Toews 41 20 22 42 25 23 2 4
M. Hossa 34 15 10 25 14 14 3 5
B. Saad 40 9 14 23 14 8 0 2
D. Keith 41 2 21 23 17 31 1 0

Probable Stars lineup

Forwards

Ray WhitneyJamie BennAlex Chiasson
Matt FraserCody EakinLoui Eriksson
Eric NystromVernon FiddlerErik Cole
Antoine RousselTom WandellRyan Garbutt

Defensive Pairings

Trevor DaleyStephane Robidas
Brenden DillonAlex Goligoski
Aaron RomePhilip Larsen

Goaltender

Richard Bachman 6-3-0, 3.18 GAA, .884 save %, 0 SO

Injuries

Kari Lehtonen (lower body) OUT, Lane MacDermid (upper body) OUT

Leading Scorers

Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW
J. Benn 34 8 19 27 -6 36 2 3
L. Eriksson 41 10 16 26 -4 8 1 3
R. Whitney 25 10 13 23 5 4 4 1
A. Goligoski 40 2 21 23 6 18 0 0
C. Eakin 41 6 14 20 0 27 3 0

DAL Stats CHI
41 GP 41
21 W 32
17 L 5
3 OT 4
45 P 68
0.549 P% 0.829
2.78 G/G 3.12
2.93 GA/G 1.98
17.4 PP% 15.9
81.2 PK% 85.8
26.6 S/G 31.3
30.8 SA/G 26.2
47.7 FO% 50.7

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