Music: {allcanada} Blackhawks visit Senators; Kane aims to tie Hull mark

Thursday, December 3, 2015

{allcanada} Blackhawks visit Senators; Kane aims to tie Hull mark

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BLACKHAWKS (13-9-3) at SENATORS (12-7-5)

TV: CSN-CH, RDS2, TSN5

OTTAWA – Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane can join a Blackhawks legend in the record books against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

With a point against the Senators, Kane will match Hall of Fame wing Bobby Hull's franchise record 21-game point streak set in 1971-72.

"It's pretty cool. Bobby had an unbelievable career and holds a lot of different Blackhawks records," Kane said. "I try not to think about it too much. I just try to go out and play the game, worry about playing the right way and see what happens at the end of the night."

Kane has 12 goals and 20 assists in his 20-game streak and leads the NHL with 38 points.

When asked what has been the key to his streak, Kane said: "Little bit of luck, little bit of playing with good players. It seems like I've had what you could call timely points to keep the streak alive.

"It's one of those things when you're playing well and you're trying to keep it going, you're just trying to wipe the slate clean every night and not worry too much about streaks or anything like that and just worry about the next game in hand and trying to produce every night, I guess."

Kane said he has become friends with Hull and is confident Hull is pulling for him.

"I haven't talked to him in a little bit. Usually we see him every once in a while," Kane said. "I've grown pretty close to Bobby over the last few years. He's an awesome guy to be around, just his stories about him playing hockey are ones to marvel at and get you excited about playing hockey as well. We've become pretty close and nothing but good things to say about him. I'm sure he's watching and knowing him, he's always cheering us on."

The Blackhawks are 11-6-3 during Kane's streak and are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

Corey Crawford will start in goal for the Blackhawks.

Chicago will be facing a depleted Senators team which will be without forwards Milan Michalek and Mika Zibanejad. Both were injured in a 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Michalek is out for at least two weeks with a broken right index finger and Zibanejad is day-to-day after being checked in the head by Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas, who was suspended three games for the hit.

Senators coach Dave Cameron will dress seven defensemen Thursday with Patrick Wiercioch suiting up for the first time in five games -- he was injured for three and was a healthy scratch the past two.

Forward Colin Greening will play his first game of the season after being called up from Binghamton of the American Hockey League.

Craig Anderson will start his ninth straight game in goal for the Senators.

Here are the projected lineups:

BLACKHAWKS

Andrew Shaw – Jonathan Toews – Ryan Garbutt

Artemi Panarin – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane

Marko Dano – Marcus Kruger – Marian Hossa

Brandon Mashinter – Tanner Kero – Teuvo Teravainen

Duncan Keith – Niklas Hjalmarsson

Trevor van Riemsdyk – Brent Seabrook

Trevor Daley – Michal Rozsival

Corey Crawford

Scott Darling

Injured: None

Scratched: David Rundblad, Andrew Desjardins, Viktor Tikhonov

SENATORS

Mike Hoffman– Kyle Turris – Bobby Ryan

Shane Prince – Jean Gabriel-Pageau – Mark Stone

Curtis Lazar – Zack Smith – Alex Chiasson

Colin Greening – Chris Neil

Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson

Jared Cowen - Cody Ceci

Mark Borowiecki – Chris Wideman

Patrick Wiercioch

Craig Anderson

Chris Driedger

Scratched: None

Injured: Chris Phillips (back), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Andrew Hammond (undisclosed), Milan Michalek (finger), Mika Zibanejad (head)

Status report: With seven defensemen dressed, Borowiecki could be the Senators defenseman who sees some shifts up front. He played forward on the power play in college.

Who's hot: Hoffman has six goals and two assists in his past five games … Keith has two goals and four assists in his past four games.

Team Stats