The Chicago Blackhawks have stayed within shouting distance of the Central Division-leading Detroit Red Wings despite the fact that leading scorer Patrick Kane hasn’t scored a goal in 10 games heading into Monday night’s matchup with the Minnesota Wild.
Host Chicago, which has just two home regulation losses this year, is a -190 WagerWeb.com money line favorite over Minnesota for Monday’s game.
The Hawks enter off a 2-1 overtime victory in St. Louis, while the Wild are coming off a 3-0 home loss to Anaheim on Saturday night.
Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to in goal for the Hawks, who have played the Wild twice in Minnesota, losing 3-2 on Oct. 27 and winning 4-1 on Dec. 28. But Wild forward Andrew Brunette’s streak of 497 games played, the longest active streak in the NHL, is expected to end after he suffered a right leg injury in that Anaheim loss.
Brunette’s 11 goals this season are second on the team to Mikko Koivu’s 12, and he ranks third in points with 24.
But coach Jacques Lemaire said he knows if Brunette is close, he’ll play.
“He’s always been like this: He’s always wanted to play every game,” the coach said. “With Bruno, there’s no problem, no problem at all.”
Kane only has one assist in those 10 games. He has been bothered by a sprained right ankle.
“I thought he played his best game over that stretch (Saturday),” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said after the 2-1 win at St. Louis. “He battled hard and that line was effective.”
Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith didn’t play against the Blues and remains doubtful for tonight’s game with a concussion. The Hawks have two home games before the All-Star break this weekend. Khabibulin is 7-0-4 at the United Center.
The Wild are just 24th in the league in scoring but second in goals-against. Chicago is fourth in the NHL in scoring and third in goals-against.
A 6-5 loss to league-leading San Jose on Nov. 16 remains the Blackhawks’ only regulation defeat at the United Center (the other was at Wrigley Field), but they’ve since posted an 8-0-1 record there by outscoring opponents 35-12 in that span. The Wild have been outscored 24-13 while losing eight of 10 road games since Dec. 6.
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