WGN Sports: January 2010 Archives

* The Hurricanes are 7-0-1-1 in their last nine games against Chicago. Carolina hasn't hosted the Blackhawks since Dec. 13, 2005 (5-3 win).

* Carolina will be looking for its first four-game winning streak of the season after beating the Bruins, Rangers, and Islanders by a combined score of 14-3.

* This will be the last game of Chicago's season-long eight-game road trip. The Blackhawks are 5-2-0 in the first seven games.

* Troy Brouwer registered the second multi-goal game of his career Thursday at San Jose, scoring the game-winner 1:37 into overtime.

* Patrick Kane's 60 points (21 G, 39 A) this season are the most by any player currently under 22 years old.

* Eric Staal (8 G, 4 A) and Ray Whitney (2 G, 7 A) are each riding seven-game point streaks. Staal has scored a goal in five straight games, the second-longest streak of his career (longest is six games spanning the 2003-04 and '04-05 seasons).

* Chicago has won two of the three meetings between these clubs this season. The Sharks will be looking to avoid losing two home games to the Blackhawks in a single season for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign.

* The Blackhawks have just five losses in their last 18 games, however, four of their five losses in that span have come on the road.

* The Sharks will be looking to extend their current win streak to six in a row. San Jose has a two-point lead over Chicago for the best record in the league.

* Evgeni Nabokov has a Western Conference-leading 30 wins this season and is 6-0-1 with a 1.13 GAA and .964 save percentage in his last seven starts. Nabokov has just one win and a 4.03 GAA in his last five starts against Chicago.

* Marian Hossa has four goals and two assists in his last seven road games and has lit the lamp in each of his last six trips to San Jose, tallying nine goals in that span.

* Joe Pavelski has nine points (3g, 6a) in his last five games. Pavelski has one goal and two assists in his three games against the Blackhawks this season.

* Chicago has scored a total of nine goals in its two meetings with the Oilers this season (both wins). The Blackhawks have won each of their last three trips to Edmonton.

* The Oilers have lost 17 of their last 18 games overall and 13 of their last 14 at home. Edmonton has dropped each of its last 10 games overall, its longest slide since losing 12 straight from February 25-March 21, 2007.
* The Blackhawks are 3-2-0 so far on their current season-high eight-game road trip. Chicago is tied with San Jose for the most wins in the NHL this season with 35.

* Jonathan Toews has six points (3g, 3a) in his last five games and two goals and three assists in his two meetings with Edmonton this season.

* Edmonton is 5-21-3 when allowing the first goal of the game this season - the second-worst record in the NHL.
* The Blackhawks have scored the third-most goals among Western Conference teams this season (165), while the Oilers are tied for the second-fewest (129). 

* The Blue Jackets dropped a 4-1 decision in St. Louis on Tuesday, snapping their season-high tying 3-game winning streak in the process. Columbus had a season-high 38 penalty minutes against St. Louis Tuesday - its highest total since recording a 64-PIM game vs. Calgary last season on March 26.
* Chicago lost, 3-1, to Anaheim in its last skate on Sunday and has now dropped two straight games overall. The last time the Blackhawks had a losing streak of three games or more was during a 5-game skid March 13-20 last season.
* Including a 4-3 shootout win by the Blackhawks in these clubs' first meeting of the season, (December 1^st), each of the last four contests between Columbus and Chicago has been decided either in overtime or via shootout (each team has won two of those games).
* Kris Versteeg has scored a point in three straight games vs. the Blue Jackets (2g, 1a) and with an assist vs. Anaheim on Sunday, is currently riding an 8-game point streak overall (3g, 6a during streak).
* Chicago owns the league's best home record in 2009-10 at 20-5-1 (.788). Tonight's contest will be the Blackhawks 27^th home game of the season - tying them with Ottawa for most in the league.
* Rick Nash dropped the gloves for the first time this season on Tuesday (David Backes) and was assessed a fighting major for just the fourth time in his NHL career. The last time Nash received a fighting major was on 11/14/07 when he mixed it up with former Blackhawk blueliner Jim Vandermeer.

* The Blackhawks have won both meetings with Minnesota this season, 3-1 on Oct. 26 and 4-1 on Tuesday (both games in Chicago).

* Chicago has won five in a row, and eight of its last nine. The Blackhawks' 65 points this season (31-10-3) are tied for the most in franchise history through 44 games (also 1970-71 and 1971-72).

* The Blackhawks have scored four or more goals in eight consecutive games, the longest such streak in the NHL this season.

* The Wild snapped a four-game losing streak with Wednesday's 4-1 home win over Calgary.

* Eric Belanger has two multi-goal games over a 10-day period (Dec. 28 at Los Angeles and Wednesday vs. Calgary), after having just two such games over the previous five seasons.

* Patrick Kane has a career-long 10-game point streak (9 G, 7 A). It's also the longest active point streak in the NHL.

* The Blackhawks defeated Boston in a shootout on December 18 by a score of 5-4, snapping a four-game losing streak in the series.

* With a 4-1 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday, the Blackhawks reached 30 wins in their 43^rd game of the season. That edges the 1970-71 and 1971-72 teams (44 games each) for the fewest games to 30 wins in team history.

* The Bruins beat Ottawa on Tuesday, 4-1, as Boston's power-play clicked for two goals. For the season overall, the Bruins' power-play percentage has been 32.1 in their wins, as opposed to 2.9 percent in their losses, the largest differential (+29.2) in the league.

* Marian Hossa scored two goals on Tuesday, his second consecutive multi-goal game, and his third straight game with two points.

* Blake Wheeler matched a career high with three points on Tuesday. With five points in his last two games, he's already matched his output in 13 games in December.

* Miroslav Satan made his Bruins debut on Tuesday. He had no points and just one shot in 14:06 of ice time, but still finished with a +2 rating.

* The Blackhawks prevailed in their first meeting with Minnesota in October, 3-1. But the Wild own a 22-10-1-0 record in the all-time series.

* The Wild have surrendered at least four goals in each of their last three games, one shy of the longest such stretch in team history (December 2001).

* The Blackhawks have won three in a row and 10 of their last 12, during which time they've outscored their opponents by a margin of 48-23.

* Mikko Koivu has registered an assist in each of his last six games, the longest streak of his career. And his six-game point streak is one shy of his career high.

* Patrick Kane has scored points in each of his last eight games, the longest active streak in the league. He's totaled seven goals and seven assists during his spree.

* In five starts at home since December 9, Cristobal Huet has fashioned a 1.00 GAA while going 4-1-0. He's stopped 101 of 106 shots (.953).