The Chicago Blackhawks have matched the best start to a season in franchise history and they'll try to remain unbeaten when they host the rival Detroit Red Wings in Sunday's clash at United Center.
The Blackhawks have won five straight to begin the season, tying the 1971-72 club record with their 5-0 start. The last three victories have come by one- goal margins, including Saturday's 3-2 win at Columbus.
Patrick Kane recorded his fourth multi-point game of the season with two assists, as the Blackhawks continued their dominance in Columbus. Kane has two goals and nine points on the season.
Jonathan Toews, Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell scored for the Blackhawks, while Corey Crawford made 24 saves in the win. Niklas Hjalmarsson finished plus-3 with an assist for Chicago, which notched its eighth consecutive victory over the Blue Jackets and seventh straight in Columbus.
"Finding ways to win is important," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. "You're not going to be great every night or your best every night."
Sunday's Central Division clash marks just the second home game of the season for Chicago, which built a superb 27-8-6 record at United Center in 2011-12.
The Red Wings are 2-2 on the season and coming off Friday's victory against the visiting Minnesota Wild. Detroit has yet to win consecutive games this year and that could be a difficult task to achieve on Sunday against a Blackhawks team that has won three straight and eight of the last 11 encounters in this series
Todd Bertuzzi scored twice in his first game of the season, while Pavel Datsyuk added a goal and two assists as the Red Wings posted a 5-3 decision over the Wild at Joe Louis Arena. It was Bertuzzi's first multi-goal effort since Feb. 4 of last season against Chicago.
Henrik Zetterberg and Damien Brunner also lit the lamp for Detroit, while Jimmy Howard stopped 23-of-26 shots for the win.
"We just needed a win, man," said Bertuzzi, who missed the first three games of the season with an illness. "We need wins. I don't think it's anything other than that."
On the injury front for Detroit, defenseman Jonathan Ericsson is expected to return to action Sunday after missing the previous three games with a shoulder injury.
Detroit went 17-21-3 as the visiting club in 2011-12. So far this season, the Red Wings are 1-1 as the guest.
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