October 2011 Archives

* The Predators shut out the Ducks, 3-0, at home on Saturday night and have now won two straight and three of four overall. Nashville is 3-2-0 on the road in 2011-12.

* Chicago beat Columbus, 5-2, on Saturday and at 6-2-2 (.700), has its best record through 10 games since going 7-3-0 (.700) in 1994-95. The Blackhawks are 4-0-2 at home this season.
* The Preds and Blackhawks split six games last season, with Nashville getting two of its wins over Chicago in shootouts. This is the first meeting of 2011-12 between the two division rivals.
* Including two shutouts, Pekka Rinne is 3-1-0 with a 1.26 GAA and .958 save percentage in his last four games. Rinne is 6-6-0 with a 2.33 GAA and .924 save percentage in 13 career regular-season outings vs. the Blackhawks.
* Dave Bolland lit the lamp for the fifth time of the season in Saturday's win and is now tied with Marian Hossa for the team lead in goals. Dating to last season, the Blackhawks have won seven straight games in which Bolland puts at least one puck in the net.
* Chicago's penalty-kill percentage is 93.9 (31/33) in 2011-12 - best of any team in the league.

* The Blue Jackets have earned at least one standing's point in eight of their last 11 (6-3-2) road games against the Blackhawks.

* The Blue Jackets have now allowed multiple power-play goals in three of their last four games.

* Going back to last season, the Blue Jackets have now lost 10 consecutive road games (0-8-2).

* Vinny Prospal has scored all nine of his points in team losses this season - tied for the most in the NHL.

* The Hurricanes have gone 8-1-1-1 against the Blackhawks since the beginning of 2000 - the third best record against Chicago over that span.

* The Blackhawks have earned at least one standing's point in each of their last seven games (5-0-2) - the longest active streak in the NHL.

* The Hurricanes have scored multiple goals in each of their last eight games. However, they have allowed multiple power-play goals in three contests this season.

* Dan Carcillo has just two penalty minutes in his first six games with the Blackhawks, after earning more than 900 (an NHL-high 912) penalty minutes in his previous four seasons.

* Nine of Jeff Skinner's 10 points this season have come in Carolina losses. Those nine points in losses are tied for the most in the NHL this season.

* Marian Hossa has scored a goal in each of his last five games - the longest active streak in the NHL.

* The Ducks have picked up back-to-back 2-1 victories over the Blackhawks. Since December 2002, the Ducks have gone a Western Conference-best 22-6-1-3 against Chicago.

* The Ducks have allowed just one power-play goal over their last six games, after allowing two power-play goals in their season opener against the Sabres.

* The Blackhawks, who have not allowed a power-play goal over their last five games, are tied (Pittsburgh) for the fewest (one) power-play goals allowed this season.

* Ten of the 16 goals allowed by the Blackhawks this season have come during the second period.

* The Blackhawks are the only NHL team with a trio of skaters (Bolland, Hossa and Toews) with at least four goals apiece this season.

* Ryan Getzlaf scored a pair of goals against the Coyotes on Sunday, after scoring just one goal over his previous 16 regular season games.

* The Blackhawks have won back-to-back games against the Avalanche by a combined score of 7-1. The Blackhawks have had less than 10 penalty minutes in each of their last six games against Colorado.

* The Avalanche have scored an NHL-high seven power-play goals away from home this season. Last season, the Avalanche scored seven power-play goals over their final 19 regular season road games.

* The Blackhawks, who have not allowed a power-play goal in four straight games, have not gone five straight games without allowing a power-play goal since March 28 - April 4, 2010.

* The Blackhawks have seven skaters with multiple goals this season - tied (Lightning) for the most in the NHL.

* With 27 shots on goal (tied for fourth most in the NHL), Gabriel Landeskog has taken nine more shots on goal than any other rookie this season.

* David Jones, who has scored a goal in three straight road games, has never scored a goal in four straight road games over his career.

* Four of the last eight games between these clubs have gone into overtime, with three of those four ending in a shootout. Colorado won three of the four meetings in 2010-11.

* Chicago is averaging 4.7 goals per game in its wins so far this season, as opposed to 1.5 per game in its losses. In 2010-11, the Blackhawks averaged 4.0 goals per game in their wins and 2.0 per game in their losses.

* Colorado returns home for the first time since its October 8 season opener, having played its last five games on the road (5-0-0). The Avalanche's current five-game win streak is their longest since stringing together six straight victories, December 10-19, 2010.

* Since the start of last season, Patrick Sharp has 11 goals in the month of October. That is tied for second most by any player.

* Semyon Varlamov has never faced the Blackhawks. Jean-Sebastien Giguere, on the other hand, is 14-6-2-1 with a 2.29 goal against average all-time versus Chicago.

* David Jones has four overtime goals since January 1. That is the most in the 2011 calendar year by any NHL player.

* These teams split their four meetings last season with each club winning once on the road and once on their own home ice.

* After losing their first two games to open the season, the Coyotes have now won each of their last two contests. Phoenix has converted five goals on 21 power play opportunities so far this season.

* Chicago is hoping to have Marian Hossa back after sitting out of Saturday's game with an upper-body injury. Hossa has at least one point in each of his last six trips to Phoenix (1g, 6a).

* Shane Doan, who leads the Coyotes with seven points this season, has scored just one goal and five assists in his last 17 games against Chicago. Doan is one goal shy of 300 for his career.

* Patrick Kane has lit the lamp in each of his last two contests and has three points (all assists) in his last two games against Phoenix.

* The Coyotes have four goals scored by defensemen this season - the second-most in hockey behind Tampa Bay's five.

* This is a matchup of the last two Stanley Cup Champions. Boston has won five of the last seven meetings between these two teams, though Chicago has won two of the last three meetings.

* The Blackhawks have scored nine goals in their two home games this season. Last season, Chicago scored 3.07 goals per game at home, fourth in the NHL.

* Including last year's postseason, the Bruins have lost six of their last seven road games. Each of the Bruins' last five road losses has been by one goal.

* The Blackhawks have won 56.3 percent of their faceoffs this season, second in the NHL, while the Bruins have won 55.6 percent of their faceoffs, third in the NHL.

* Brad Marchand leads the Bruins with two goals this season and leads the Bruins in goals (18) since the start of January 1 of this year.

* Including the postseason, Dave Bolland has seven goals, 12 points and is +9 in his last six games at home, all Chicago wins.

* The Blackhawks finished up the 2010-11 campaign by going just 7-6-3 in their last 16 games and grabbing the No. 8 seed in the West, one season after winning the Stanley Cup. Chicago was bounced out of the playoffs in the first round by the Canucks after stretching the series to seven games.
* Despite finishing with 95 points in 2010-11, the Stars missed the postseason for the third straight season - their longest playoff drought since moving from Minnesota to Texas in 1993-94. Dallas is 9-2-4-2 in season-openers since the move - tied for the best record in the league.
* The Stars took three of four from Chicago last season, outscoring the Blackhawks by a combined 15-10 in the process. The two clubs have split their last eight games in Dallas, each scoring a total of 30 goals in those contests.
* Jonathan Toews led the Blackhawks in scoring last year with a new career-high of 76 points (32g, 44a). That said, the 23-year forward had just two points (both goals) in his last nine regular-season games of 2010-11.
* Dallas lost its leading scorer the last two years, Brad Richards, to the Rangers via free agency, and are also without their coach, Marc Crawford, who was fired after the season. Glen Gulutzan enters the 2011-12 NHL season as the 21^st head coach in Stars franchise history, and the 19^th to be hired by the club with no previous NHL experience.
* Dallas finished the 2011 preseason with a 6-1-0 record. It was the first time since the club moved to Texas that the Stars have won that many games in a single preseason.