The Chicago Blackhawks are meeting the New York Rangers for the 579th time in history Friday night at the United Center.
The Original Six foes are playing for the second time this season, with the Hawks having won the first, a 4-2 decision on Feb. 16 at Madison Square Garden that snapped their nine-game losing skid.
"The Rangers have a real top team," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said before the game. "We were in a tough spot the last time we saw them. They're going to be excited about this game."
After one period Friday, the Rangers lead 1-0 on the strength of a goal from Artem Anisimov with under a minute remaining.
The Hawks are looking to rebound from a lackluster effort during a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. That snapped a three-game winning streak, which was immediately preceded by a three-game losing skid and prior to that, four victories in a row.
"We've been really streaky here recently," Quenneville said. "Getting back in the winning ways is what we're looking to do. We're focused on winning one hockey game. We know our schedule is going to be tough the rest of the way. We have to only focus on the short term and that's shift-by-shift, period-by-period against a real good opponent."
Ray Emery is making his fourth straight start in goal for the Hawks and is opposed by one of the NHL's top netminders in Henrik Lundqvist. During the last meeting between the teams, Lundqvist was given the night off in favor of Martin Biron and the Hawks greeted the backup with four goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Emery is 6-1-0, including two shutouts, with a 1.44 goals-against average in eight career games vs. the Rangers. Lundqvist is 4-0-2 with a 1.80 goals-against in six career games against the Hawks.
Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson is back in the Hawks' lineup after missing six consecutive--and 13 of 14--games with a concussion.
ckuc@tribune.com
Twitter @ChrisKuc
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