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Carolina Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks
December 27, 2015 - 7:00 pm ET
United Center - Chicago, IL
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - Second City Hockey
Vital Statistics
| Hurricanes | Blackhawks | |
| Record | 14-16-5 | 20-12-4 |
| Points | 33 | 44 |
| Division Rank | 7th Metro | 3rd Central |
| Conference Rank | 14th EC | 4th WC |
| Last 10 Games | 6-3-1 | 7-3-0 |
| Streak | Won 1 | Lost 1 |
| Goals/Game | 2.37 | 2.64 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.89 | 2.42 |
| ES Goals For % | 43.4% | 46.9% |
| Shots/Game | 29.7 | 30.4 |
| Shots Against/Game | 25.8 | 29.8 |
| ES Corsi For % | 53.5% | 51.7% |
| Faceoff % | 52.9% | 50.3% |
| ES PDO | 96.9 | 99.1 |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 17.7% (19) | 21.6% (4) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 77.1% (28) | 82.0% (12) |
| PIM/Game | 06:20 | 07:13 |
| Goaltender #1 | Ward | Crawford |
| Record | 11-10-3 | 18-9-2 |
| ES Save % | .908 | .930 |
| GAA | 2.49 | 2.22 |
| Goaltender #2 | Lack | Darling |
| Record | 3-6-2 | 2-3-2 |
| ES Save % | .882 | .918 |
| GAA | 3.34 | 2.78 |
*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice
Game Notes
- The Canes head to the Windy City coming off a solid performance in a 3-1 win against the Devils last night. Former Blackhawk Joakim Nordstrom played his best game as a Hurricane, scoring a goal and an assist and taking the game's first star honors. Justin Faulk also tallied a goal (his first of the season at even strength in case you missed it) and an assist. Faulk is now on pace for 68 points this season.
- This is the ninth set of back-to-back games for the Canes this season. They are 6-3-0 on the front end of back-to-back games and 5-2-1 on the back end. With travel and a short turnaround time (1:00 am ET arrival in Chicago and 7:00 pm ET game time), the team won't skate this morning. Head coach Bill Peters announced that Eddie Lack will get the start in net tonight. Lack is 2-1-0 record with a 2.93 GAA in three appearances against the Blackhawks. There are no other projected line-up changes for the Canes.
- John-Michael Liles is riding a three-game points streak, and Eric Staal and former Blackhawk Kris Versteeg have points in two straight games.
- The Blackhawks took an extra day off yesterday and are practicing this morning for the first time since the holiday break. They are expected to get Marian Hossa back in the lineup tonight after missing two games with an upper body injury. Hossa has 57 points (25g, 32a) in 53 career games against the Canes.
- The Blackhawks were riding a three-game win streak before being shut out by the Dallas Stars in their last game before the holiday break. They are led in scoring by Patrick Kane. His 50 points and 29 assists are both league highs. Artemi Panarin leads all rookie scoring with 31 points (10g, 21a). Starting goaltender Corey Crawford is tied for second in league standings with 18 wins.
- The Hawks swept last season's two-game series against the Canes.
Projected Lineups
Hurricanes (from 12/26 vs. Devils)
Kris Versteeg - Eric Staal - Elias Lindholm
Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Phillip Di Giuseppe
Riley Nash - Jay McClement - Chris Terry
Brad Malone
Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Jaccob Slavin
Michal Jordan
Eddie Lack
Cam Ward
Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Nathan Gerbe (ankle)
Blackhawks (from morning skate 12/27)
Teuvo Teravainen - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa
Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell - Dennis Rasmussen - Andrew Shaw
Andrew Desjardins - Phillip Danault - Ryan Garbutt
Brandon Mashinter
Duncan Keith - Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brent Seabrook
Michal Rozsival - Rob Scuderi
David Rundblad
Corey Crawford
Scott Darling