Ducks at Blackhawks preview
Anaheim 6-13-2 on road; Lehner to start for Chicago for first time since knee injury
by Brandon Cain / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
DUCKS (17-22-5) at BLACKHAWKS (19-20-6)
8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH+, PRIME, NHL.TV
The Game
Robin Lehner will start for the first time in four games when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Anaheim Ducks at United Center on Saturday.
The goalie, who sustained a right-knee injury in a 7-5 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 2, missed two games before dressing as the backup to Corey Crawford in a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Lehner is 12-7-4 with a 2.92 goals-against average and .922 save percentage this season for the Blackhawks, who have lost two straight after going 4-1-0 in their previous five games.
The Ducks, who have lost three consecutive road games and are 6-13-2 away from home this season, begin a five-game trip heading into the NHL All-Star break.
Goalie John Gibson will start for Anaheim, which has lost two straight overall and is 3-7-1 in its past 11.
Players to watch
Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past three games.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has nine points (four goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.
They said it
"We want to come out with goals on little things so we can kind of compartmentalize it in a way, so going into the [All-Star] break we can know exactly how it went." -- Ducks defenseman Josh Manson on Anaheim's road trip
"We're 1-2-0 on this four-game homestand, so it'd be nice to get a win tonight, feel good about ourselves. We have six games before the All-Star break and bye week, and it'd be a good time to get hot and feel good about ourselves going into it." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane
Ducks projected lineup
Adam Henrique -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Daniel Sprong
Max Comtois -- Isac Lundestrom -- Rickard Rakell
Max Jones -- Sam Steel -- Ondrej Kase
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Devin Shore -- Carter Rowney
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Cam Fowler -- Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Larsson -- Michael Del Zotto
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched: Chase De Leo, Korbinian Holzer
Injured: Derek Grant (shoulder), Nick Ritchie (left knee), Jakob Silfverberg (upper body)
Blackhawks projected lineup
Dominik Kubalik -- Jonathan Toews -- John Quenneville
Alex DeBrincat -- Kirby Dach -- David Kampf
Alex Nylander -- Ryan Carpenter -- Patrick Kane
Matthew Highmore -- Zack Smith -- Drake Caggiula
Duncan Keith -- Adam Boqvist
Erik Gustafsson -- Connor Murphy
Olli Maatta -- Slater Koekkoek
Robin Lehner
Corey Crawford
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Dylan Sikura
Injured: Calvin de Haan (right shoulder), Brandon Saad (right ankle), Brent Seabrook (right shoulder/left and right hip), Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol), Dylan Strome (right ankle)
Status report
Del Zotto is in for Holzer. … Silfverberg did not travel with Anaheim on its road trip. … Saad has resumed skating; he will miss his 10th straight game after being injured Dec. 19 against the Winnipeg Jets.
Stat pack
The Ducks are 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) on the power play in their past six games. … Kubalik has six points (three goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak, including one goal in three straight games.