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Red-hot Blackhawks host up-and-down Ducks (Mar 09, 2017)
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks try to increase their winning streak to a season-high eight games when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
Nearly everything has gone right in recent weeks for Chicago (42-18-5), which won 12 of its past 13 games. Now, the Blackhawks return to full strength as they reunite their old defensive pairing of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya for the first time in almost two years.
Hjalmarsson missed four games because of an upper-body injury but has been cleared to return. Meanwhile, Oduya is scheduled to play for the first time since Chicago reacquired him from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 28. The soft-spoken Swede won two Stanley Cup championships with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015.
"It's obviously a very positive thing when you can switch guys in and out, when guys are hurt ... and you're still finding a way to come out with some wins," Blackhawks center Tanner Kero told the Chicago Sun-Times. "And now to be at full strength, we're excited to see what happens."
As Chicago looks to stay hot, Anaheim (34-22-10) attempts to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 17-19. The Ducks alternated wins and losses in each of the past 12 games. After a 4-3 shootout victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, coach Randy Carlyle's team will try to finally break its win-loss pattern.
The addition of hardscrabble right winger Patrick Eaves could boost the Ducks' chances. He has two goals and two assists in four games since Anaheim acquired him from Dallas before the trade deadline.
"Patty works hard," Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf told the Orange County Register. "He's always around the puck all the time and he's around the net. That's one thing that our group was lacking in a way -- just that feistiness in front of the net. I thought he's done great with that. Retrieving pucks and being around the net."
The game marks the second of three regular-season meetings. The Blackhawks won the opening matchup 3-2 on Nov. 25 behind goals from Artem Anisimov, Patrick Kane and Ryan Hartman.
Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 34 of 36 shots in that game and he is expected to be in net again Thursday. The 32-year-old is 26-13-3 with a .918 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average.
Jonathan Bernier likely will start in net for Anaheim as fellow goaltender John Gibson continues to recover from a lower-body injury. Bernier is 11-7-2 with a .904 save percentage and 2.85 goals-against average.
The Blackhawks' offense tries to keep rolling regardless of whom the Ducks start between the pipes. Chicago has scored at least four goals in six of the past seven games and 11 of the past 13.
No player has been hotter than Kane, who has nine goals in his past five contests and 29 goals on the season. He needs one more score to post back-to-back, 30-goal seasons for the first time in his career.
Anaheim remains without veteran center Antoine Vermette, who serves the ninth contest of a 10-game suspension for slashing a linesman on Feb. 14. Vermette will be eligible to return Sunday against Washington.
Chicago is 22-8-4 on home ice. Anaheim is 13-14-7 on the road.
