Things to know about Sunday’s NHL games

Things to know about Sunday’s game:

-The Chicago Blackhawks wrap up their six-game trip in Nashville. They’re the lone NHL team without a loss in regulation and have gone 3-0-2 on the trip. Patrick Kane has points in all five games of the trip (10 total) and has a four-game goal streak and three consecutive multi-point games. The Blackhawks rank second in the league in offense while the Predators have the NHL’s top defense.

-The New Jersey Devils leap-frogged the Pittsburgh Penguins into the Atlantic Division lead on Saturday with a 3-1 victory. They meet again in Pittsburgh. The Penguins were short-handed 10 times on Saturday and the Devils capitalized twice in the third period.

MORE: Sunday’s scoreboard[1]

-Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock will be in his 750th game behind the bench when his team faces the Los Angeles Kings. The Red Wings are 0-2 in the second half of back-to-back games and a win could get the Kings back to .500. For comparison, the Boston Bruins were 3-7 after 10 games last season and finished with the second-best record in their conference.

-Bruins players Brad Marchand (upper body) and Shawn Thornton (concussion) were game-time decisions on Saturday and have had an extra day to recover because a snowstorm postponed Saturday’s game. Sabres $12 million defenseman Tyler Myers was a healthy scratch on Saturday, so if he’s back in the lineup on Sunday, expect extra motivated play. He’s a team-worst -9 and has one point in 11 games. The Sabres handed the Bruins their lone regulation loss, rallying for a 7-4 win. League-leading scorer Thomas Vanek had three goals and two assists in that game.

-Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cory Conacher, facing the New York Rangers, leads NHL rookies with 12 points in 10 games. Rangers forward Chris Kreider, a preseason Calder Trophy favorite, has two points in five games. He has a goal and an assist in two games since he returned from a five-game absence for an ankle injury.

-Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski returned from a concussion and a sore leg.

About the Author
2013-02-10-patrick-kane

Mike Brehm

Mike Brehm, a lifelong hockey fan who once drove from Virginia to Winnipeg to see a game, has been hockey editor at USA TODAY since 1993. He has coordinated the hockey coverage of four Winter Olympics, numerous Stanley Cup finals and three lockouts.

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