Chicago Blackhawks going in for fifth straight against Dallas Stars -NHL Preview
Some might think not having captain, Jonathan Toews, on the line-up might deny Chicago Blackhawks their fifth straight win going up against Dallas Stars on Thursday, February 23, 2012, but it is not the first time they will be doing so.
Toews is expected to miss his second straight game according to latest reports, which is definitely what Dallas will be looking to take advantage of, but Chicago is a team that knows much better.
"In 82 games, you're going to play without some players on any given night," Chicago forward, Patrick Sharp, said. "Losing (Toews) was big, but we rallied around each other."
Coming out of a major victory against a team like Detroit Red Wings, 2-1, is exactly what Chicago needed at the moment to regain some momentum without some key players on the line-up and going up a team like Dallas will probably be child’s play for them.
Whatever the positives might be for Chicago, Dallas is not intimidated at all from facing the 2010 Stanley Cup champions as the Stars is committed to get into the playoffs this time around and need that next win to tie the Los Angeles Kings for eighth place
in the Western Conference.
"We've got to get some kind of consistency with winning and I think that point is probably right now," Dallas defenseman, Alex Goligoski, told the Stars' official website.
Coming out of a nine game losing streak, Chicago has managed to turn it around in a big way by having won the next four straight, including two of the top ranked teams in the league like New York Rangers and Detroit.
"We have to keep it going," Blackhawks defenseman, Brent Seabrook, said.
With Toews out, Chicago is anticipating that their veteran defenseman, Niklas Hjalmarsson, could be making a comeback since he went out nearly seven games earlier due to concussion woes. Having that extra defender back on the team could definitely mean all
that difference.
Prediction:
Even though the match is expected to be tough from both ends, Chicago may potentially come out as the winner by a lead of two or more goals, but the scoring will remain under five collectively.
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