Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa were two huge reasons the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup last year.
This year, they have been mostly invisible, although you could blame part of that on the injuries they have suffered -- as well as injuries to the rest of the team that have really hurt the Blackhawks' depth. This could possibly have been predicted after all the parts of the Cup winning team were dealt off.
Such is life in the NHL in the salary cap era. It's almost impossible to repeat as champions.
Nevertheless, the Hawks have a chance tonight to beat a team that's fallen on difficult times after a pretty good run. It's the only time these two teams will face each other this year and it's been almost a full calendar year (since Jan. 19, 2010) since they have played. The Sens have lost two of their last three and have scored only 90 goals -- tied for last in the league. Nick Leddy has been recalled from Rockford today to help out on defense and John Scott, Nick Boynton and Ryan Johnson will be healthy scratches.
The game begins at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on CSN Chicago.