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Blackhawks at home tonight against Dallas

The CHICAGO Blackhawks will try to pad their lead atop
the Central Division and Western Conference standings when they
host the Dallas Stars tonight.

With nine games to go in the season, Chicago (47-20-6) already has
secured its fourth consecutive 100-point season. The Blackhawks
hold a six-point lead in the division over the Minnesota Wild, who
have one game in hand.

A tremendous performance over the past six weeks vaulted the
Blackhawks into the top position. Chicago is 17-3-1 in its past 21
contests and will try to extend its point streak to seven games
Thursday against Dallas (29-33-10).

Despite the Blackhawks' recent success, coach Joel Quenneville and
many of his players still have found reasons to nitpick. Chicago
fell behind in each of its past two games against the Colorado
Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks, forcing the Blackhawks to stage
furious third-period rallies in order to salvage points.

Chicago has scored eight goals in the third period of its past two
games. After netting a season-high five goals in the third period
against the Avalanche, the Blackhawks had three late goals against
the Canucks to erase a 4-1 deficit and force overtime.

"I think the last two games, we weren't ready to play from the
first minute," Chicago left winger Richard Panik said after
Monday's game. "That's not how we want to play. Hopefully, we'll
figure it out and play a 60-minute game."

That could be bad news for the Stars, who have endured a
disappointing season filled with injuries and inconsistency. Dallas
is coming off a 1-0 win over the San Jose Sharks but has lost four
of its past six games. The Stars scored more than two goals in only
one of those six contests.

Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen stopped all 30 shots he saw Monday
night to earn the 36th shutout of his career. He likely will draw
the assignment in net against the Blackhawks.

Lehtonen is 18-22-6 with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .903
save percentage this season. Backup netminder Antti Niemi, who won
a Stanley Cup ring with the Blackhawks in 2010, is 11-11-4 with a
3.35 GAA and a .892 save percentage.

"It's been a tough year," Lehtonen said after Monday's win, "so
after a game like this, it feels especially good. Just the way we
played the whole 60 minutes. Guys were blocking shots and getting
all the rebounds. They were making simple plays, not turning the
puck over like we've had in the past, so that was nice."

Chicago likely will turn to Corey Crawford in net. Crawford is
coming off a rare letdown performance in which he allowed four
goals on 10 shots to the Canucks before he was replaced in the
third period. On the season, Crawford is 29-15-3 with a 2.54 GAA
and a .919 save percentage.

Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews will try to increase his point
streak to seven consecutive games Thursday night. Toews has three
goals and three assists in the past six games, increasing his
season totals to 20 goals and 34 assists.

Panik has goals in each of the past two games. Defenseman Brent
Seabrook has an assist in each of his past three games.

For the Stars, center Jason Spezza is questionable to play because
of a back injury. Spezza is tied for third on the team with 42
points (12 goals, 30 assists) in 59 games.

Chicago is 4-0-0 against Dallas this season. Two of the victories
came by a one-goal margin, while the other two were decided by
two-goal margins.

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