Blackhawks face Rangers' NHL-best offense on Friday

The Blackhawks will take on the New York Rangers twice over the next five days, with the first matchup happening on Friday at the United Center. Chicago is coming off a fairly straightforward 4-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes, but the two points came at the expense of defenseman Brent Seabrook, who exited Tuesday's game after falling into the boards and has been ruled out of Friday's tilt.
Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford remain out as well, but Chicago is not the only team entering the matchup with a limited roster. New York could be without some of their offensive depth, as Rick Nash suffered a groin injury, and youngsters Jimmy Vesey, Matt Puempel and Pavel Buchnevich were also on the shelf recently; Mika Zibanejad is out until at least mid-January after breaking his leg.
The Rangers were in action on Thursday night against Winnipeg, grinding out a 2-1 win courtesy of a late power-play goal by Kevin Hayes. They're level on points with Pittsburgh at the top of the Metropolitan Division while leading the league with a +29 goal differential.

THE MARIAN TYPE
The Blackhawks did get some depth contributions in Tuesday's win; Dennis Rasmussen tallied his second goal of the season, and three lines contributed to the overall scoring. It was Marian Hossa, however, who again stole the show with a two-goal performances, the first one a nice finish off a feed from rookie Ryan Hartman and the second one on a breakaway late in the game. He now has 513 career tallies, which shares 38th all-time in the NHL with former Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick. The 37-year-old continues to lead the team with 14 tallies this season, already surpassing his total of 13 from 2015-16 and ranking fifth in the league entering Thursday's schedule, and he's finding chemistry with a number of different linemates, most recently Hartman and Marcus Kruger, who has joined the second line in Toews' continued absence.
"I'm still going to play the same game I've played, the way I played last year," Hossa said after Tuesday's game. "This year I feel more recharged, and when the puck is going in, you feel more confident. But I try not to be just a goalscorer, try to play both ways, and even if I don't score in a bunch of games, I try to make some plays for the team."
DEPTH CHARGE
The Rangers' league-leading offense hasn't been dominated by one or two names; Hayes and J.T. Miller lead the team with 20 points each, landing just shy of the top 40 in the NHL. Rather, the team has benefited from depth and team scoring, and even with Nash (11 goals) and Vesey (9 goals) out of the lineup, there's still the likes of Michael Grabner (team-best 13 goals) and Hayes (11 goals). Additionally, three players have 13 or more assists on the season, including team captain Ryan McDonagh, who posted the primary helper on Hayes' game-winner on Thursday for his 14th of the season. Overall, 10 Rangers players have 15 or more points on the season, making them a tough team to defend against from top to bottom.
NOTABLE ABSENCES
CHI: Jonathan Toews (upper body), Brent Seabrook (upper body), Corey Crawford (appendectomy)
NYR:Rick Nash (groin), Mika Zibanejad (leg), Matt Puempel (concussion), Pavel Buchnevich (upper body)
LINES

Panarin -- Anisimov -- Kane
Hartman -- Kruger -- Hossa
Motte -- Rasmussen - Panik
Desjardins -- Hinostroza -- Tootoo

Keith -- Hjalmarsson
Campbell -- van Riemsdyk
Forsling -- Rozsival

Darling
Johansson