The set-up: The Chicago Blackhawks topped the Central Division with 109 points last season (also tops in the West) but even after extending their point streak to four games with a 4-1 victory at Florida on Saturday (3-0-1), Chicago is just 11-8-3 and the tam's 25 points leaves them fourth in the Central, tied with Dallas and Minnesota. The 10-9-4 Anaheim Ducks hope to put an end to their three-game slide (0-2-1) when they continue a six-game road trip in Chicago. The Ducks have been held to one goal in each of their last two contests, including Saturday's 2-1 shootout loss at Los Angeles in the opener of their trek.

Anaheim: The Ducks will be without leading scorer Rickard Rakell (8 goals / 10 assist / 18 points) for the entire road trip, after he missed Saturday's contest due to an upper-body injury. He did not travel with the team. Injuries have piled up for Anaheim during the first two months of the season. Players out of the lineup include captain Ryan Getzlaf (facial surgery), Ryan Kesler (hip surgery), Patrick Eaves (illness), Ondrej Kase (upper body) and now top-scorer Rakell. "We know we've stretched our lineup to our bare bones here," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle told the Los Angeles Times after coming off a hard-luck 2-1 loss in a shootout against the LA Kings . "All you can ask is your players to give you what they did (Saturday night). They left it on the ice. They gave it everything they had."

Chicago: Captain Jonathan Toews scored a goal and set up two others for the Blackhawks in Saturday's win plus Patrick Kane also tallied against the Panthers, raising his team-leading point total to 22. Toews' three-point effort on Saturday was his first of the season and first multi-point performance since he notched a pair of assists at Arizona on Oct. 21.Goaltender Corey Crawford is expected to make his 19th start of the season in tonight's game. He is 10-7-1 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. In 21 career games against Anaheim, he is 12-6-2 with a 1.92 GAA and .930 save percentage.

The pick: Chicago has seemingly regained its footing after an ugly stretch in which it won only four of 12 contests. The Blackhawks have scored 14 goals in their past four games and return home for the first time since Nov. 15. "I think we're starting to settle in as a team," captain Jonathan Toews told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We're starting to see what it takes for us to be a good team and what it's going to take to win games the rest of the season (with) how tight our conference and division (are)." The Ducks could turn to goaltender John Gibson after giving him the weekend off to rest. He is 7-8-1 with a 2.87 GAA and a .923 save percentage. He is 2-1-1 with a 1.50 GAA and a .953 save percentage in five career appearances against Chicago. Ryan Miller is also a possibility to make his second straight start. Miller is 4-2-0 with a 1.63 GAA and a .950 save percentage in his first five appearances with the Ducks. In 11 career games against the Blackhawks, he is 5-6-0 with a 2.71 GAA and a .918 save percentage. However, Anaheim will be venturing out of California for the first time since Oct. 29, after going a disappointing 4-5-3 during its string in California. Chicago is "coming around" and is the 8* play.