At the Rink: Senators at Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Goalie Craig Anderson will start for the Ottawa Senators against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday.

It will be the 12th start against the Blackhawks for Anderson, who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Ill., and was drafted by the Blackhawks with the 73rd pick in the 2001 NHL Draft. Anderson is 6-2-3 with a 3.25 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 11 starts against Chicago.

"The fact he's a [heck] of an NHL goalie is the biggest factor going into it," Senators coach Dave Cameron said after the morning skate Sunday.

Anderson allowed seven goals on 37 shots in his previous start, a 7-3 loss at the Boston Bruins on Dec. 29.

Senators defenseman Jared Cowen, who has three assists and a plus-8 rating in 32 games, will be scratched for a second straight game.

Ottawa is 5-7-1 since defeating the Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime at Canadian Tire Centre on Dec. 3.

"We need to find ways to play more consistent," right wing Mark Stone said. "We're kind of winning a couple, losing a couple ... so we just need find a way to string a few wins together and get together a little more confidence in ourselves."

Goalie Corey Crawford will start for Chicago, which has won two straight games and is 7-3-0 in its past 10.

The Blackhawks will also make two lineup changes. Forward Bryan Bickell and defenseman Michal Rozsival, who were scratched last against the Colorado Avalanche, will play and likely replace forward Brandon Mashinter and defenseman Rob Scuderi.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville is hoping to spark Bickell, who was sent to Rockford of the American Hockey League for a month and has no goals in 19 games for the Blackhawks.

"Sometimes you get frustrated [with it]," Quenneville said. "The [reduction in] minutes kind of reflect that, but you want everybody to be the best they can be, and you try to find the ways to manage them the best you can. [Bickell] still brings an element that our team can have, or could use, so let's try to capture that and try to get that out of him."

Defenseman David Rundblad, who cleared waivers Dec. 31 and was reassigned to Rockford, will be loaned to the ZSC Lions of Switzerland's National League A, the Blackhawks announced. Rundblad, who was on the 2015 Stanley Cup championship team, has another year left on his contract.

Rundblad had two assists in nine games with the Blackhawks this season.

"I don't know if he was a bad fit, but I think we've got some organizational depth here this year [among defensemen], and a couple opportunities for young guys to come in and play at the start of the year," Quenneville said. "It was healthy for our team when Erik Gustafsson came in and showed that he could play. We were trying to get a way so we could get him up here to play, and that's part of it. I think [Rundblad's departure] is more a by-product of other guys' play."

Here are the projected lineups:

SENATORS

Mike Hoffman - Mika Zibanejad - Bobby Ryan

Zack Smith - Kyle Turris - Mark Stone

Max McCormick - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Alex Chiasson

Shane Prince - Curtis Lazar - Chris Neil

Fredrik Claesson - Erik Karlsson

Patrick Wiercioch - Mark Borowiecki

Marc Methot - Chris Wideman

Craig Anderson

Andrew Hammond

Injured: Cody Ceci (upper body), Milan Michalek (finger), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Chris Phillips (back)

Scratched: Jared Cowen, Dave Dziurzynski

BLACKHAWKS

Andrew Shaw - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa

Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane

Andrew Desjardins - Phillip Danault - Teuvo Teravainen

Bryan Bickell - Dennis Rasmussen - Ryan Garbutt

Duncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson

Erik Gustafsson - Brent Seabrook

Trevor Van Riemsdyk - Michal Rozsival

Corey Crawford

Scott Darling

Injured: Marcus Kruger (wrist)

Scratched: Brandon Mashinter, Rob Scuderi

Status report: Gustafsson will start at left point on either the second or third defense pairing. The Swedish rookie has started the past two games on the third pairing, playing a game each with Rozsival and Scuderi, but was promoted to playing with Seabrook midway through the game in Colorado.

Who's hot: Kane has two goals and four assists in his past two games. … Desjardins has three goals in his past two games, including the game-winner at the Arizona Coyotes on Dec. 29.