PREVIEW: Blackhawks at Senators - Jan. 14, 2020

TIME: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV:NBCSCH RADIO:WGN Radio 720STREAM:
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PREGAME LINKS
WRITTEN
SESSIONS WITH STAN: Evaluating the First Half, Pt. 1
SESSIONS WITH STAN: Evaluating the First Half, Pt. 2
VIDEO
RAW: Colliton on Lineup vs. OTT
RAW: Smith on Return to OTT
RAW: Dach on Development

TEAM RECORDS

CHI: 20-20-6, 46 PTS (7th in Central)
OTT: 16-22-7, 39 PTS (7th in Atlantic)

LAST TIME OUT

Chicago took a 4-2 win over Anaheim on Saturday night to close out a four-game homestand. Dominik Kubalik scored twice and Jonathan Toews recorded his second straight multi-point night (1G, 1A) as Robin Lehner stopped 35 of the 37 shots faced in the win.
Ottawa dropped a 2-1 overtime loss to Montreal on Saturday night as Drake Batherson scored his first goal of the season in the defeat. Marcus Hogberg stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in net.
Chicago took the series last season, winning both games: 4-3 in overtime north of the border on Oct. 4 and 8-7 at home on Feb. 18. Alex DeBrincat paced the Blackhawks with six points (4G, 2A) and Patrick Kane had five points (2G, 3A) in the two meetings. The Blackhawks have swept the Senators the past two seasons. Chicago is 11-2-1 vs. the Senators in their last 14 meetings and 6-2-1 in their last nine games on the road against Ottawa.

LINEUP NOTES

Lehner will return to the net for the second straight game, while Dylan Sikura replaces the re-assigned John Quenneville in the lineup as the only change from Saturday's win over Anaheim.

HOMECOMING

Tuesday will see the return to Ottawa for Zack Smith who was drafted by Ottawa in the third round (79th overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft and played the last 11 seasons with the Senators, tallying 94 goals and 99 assists in 612 contests. He was acquired by the Blackhawks on July 16 in exchange for Artem Anisimov.
Lehner was also drafted by the Senators, going in the second round (46th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He spent his first five NHL seasons with Ottawa recording a 30-36-13 record and a 2.88 GA and a .914 SV%. Lehner is 7-0-3 with a 1.83 GAA and a .941 SV% against his former team.

CAN'T STOP KUBALIK

Kubalik recorded the first multi-goal game of his career (2G) against Anaheim on Saturday, has goals in four straight and is on a career-long five-game point streak (5G, 3A). The forward is the first Blackhawks rookie to score goals in four straight games since Andrew Shaw during the 2011-12 season.
He shares rookie scoring lead with 16 goals this season (Victor Olofsson, BUF). Kubalik ranks fifth in points (26) among NHL rookies and ranks first in goals (10) and points (16) scored by a first-year player since Dec. 8.

CHASING HISTORY

Kane is in the midst of a six-game point streak (4G, 6A) and is now five points away from reaching 1,000 career points. The Buffalo, NY native will become the 90th NHL player to reach 1,000 points and the fourth Blackhawks player to reach the mark. He will be the seventh active player to tally 1,000 points and the 55th player in NHL history to record 1,000 points before his 1,000th game.
Kane was named to the NHL All-Star game for the sixth straight season and ninth time overall in his career on Dec. 30. The forward ranks in the top 10 in the NHL in points (57, 9th) and goals (24, T-8th), and assists (33, 10th).