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At the Rink blog

Blackhawks will have Seabrook, Hossa vs. Ducks

Friday, 01.17.2014 / 3:50 PM

By Brian Hedger - NHL.com Correspondent / 2013-2014 At the Rink Blog

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2013-2014 At the Rink Blog
Blackhawks will have Seabrook, Hossa vs. Ducks

CHICAGO -- Brent Seabrook and Marian Hossa will each play for the Chicago Blackhawks when they face the red-hot Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at United Center (8 p.m. ET, NHLN).

After both missed Chicago's practice on Thursday, they joined teammates on the ice Friday for the Blackhawks' morning skate. Seabrook missed practice Thursday with an illness and Hossa was held out for a "maintenance day," according to Chicago coach Joel Quenneville.

The Ducks (36-8-5), who have won eight straight games and 18 of their last 19, made a couple moves Friday. They sent defenseman Luca Sbisa and goalie John Gibson to Norfolk of the American Hockey League, with Sbisa's trip a two-game conditioning assignment following a torn tendon in his right hand that's sidelined him for 24 games.

Anaheim also announced Thursday that defenseman Sheldon Souray would miss the rest of the season with a torn tendon in his right hand, which he needed surgery to repair after missing all 49 games thus far.

"It's a big blow as far as expecting him back, but we totally understand," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He was in so much pain still, so we wanted to make sure that he's healthy for the rest of his life, let alone the rest of this year. He's going to have the surgery today and he'll be better for it."

The Ducks might also get defenseman Bryan Allen back from a lower-body injury that's kept him out for five games. Boudreau said he would make a decision between Allen and Mark Fistric to determine who will partner with Sami Vatanen against Chicago.

Both coaches are anticipating a great game. The Blackhawks have lost five of their past seven games, but four of those were in overtime or a shootout. Chicago (30-8-11) is 4-11 in games that go past regulation, which is a big reason Anaheim (77 points) has widened its lead to six points in the Western Conference and NHL standings.

The Ducks began their amazing stretch 19 games ago with a 3-2 shootout victory against Chicago in the same building. They've also beaten the Blackhawks five straight times dating to last season.

"Pretty amazing," Quenneville said. "It's a remarkable stretch and shows how good they are and how much depth they have. We were in a pretty good spot a little while ago and now we're looking back up at them and it's quite a distance. It will at least give us a chance to get back into it with them, but it will be a good measuring stick as well."

Boudreau thinks so too.

"I think we're going to bring out the best them," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind. In the last 72 hours or 48 hours, we've been getting an awful lot of praise from people in the media. If we think we're just going to throw our jerseys out there and Chicago's going to turn a blind eye, we're in for a rude awakening. In other words, I'm not looking forward to playing them … but it should be a good game."

Here are the projected lineups:

DUCKS

Dustin Penner - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry

Matt Beleskey - Nick Bonino - Teemu Selanne

Daniel Winnik - Saku Koivu - Andrew Cogliano

Kyle Palmieri - Mathieu Perreault - Jakob Silfverberg

Cam Fowler - Ben Lovejoy

Hampus Lindholm - Francois Beauchemin

Sami Vatanen - Bryan Allen

Jonas Hiller

Frederik Andersen

Scratched: Patrick Maroon, Mark Fistric, Tim Jackman

Injured: Luca Sbisa (torn hand tendon), Viktor Fasth (muscle inflammation), Sheldon Souray (torn wrist tendon, out for the season)

BLACKHAWKS

Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa

Brandon Saad - Andrew Shaw - Patrick Kane

Bryan Bickell - Michal Handzus - Kris Versteeg

Brandon Bollig - Marcus Kruger - Ben Smith

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook

Johnny Oduya - Niklas Hjalmarsson

Nick Leddy - Sheldon Brookbank

Corey Crawford

Antti Raanta

Scratched: Michael Kostka, Michal Rozsival

Injured: Nikolai Khabibulin (rotator cuff surgery, long-term IR)

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