Blackhawks Welcome Anaheim

The Anaheim Ducks are still in playoff position in the Western Conference, but they’re vulnerable heading into Thursday’s road game (8:30 PM ET, CSNC) against the soaring Chicago Blackhawks. Starting goaltender Josh Gibson is day-to-day with an undisclosed lower-body injury. The Ducks went 2-3 in their first five games with Jonathan Bernier taking over the No. 1 role.

Gibson (.922 save percentage) has been leaned on heavily this year since the departure of Frederik Andersen to the Toronto Maple Leafs. But while Andersen (.916 SV%) has been integral to Toronto’s rebirth, Bernier (.905 SV%) has struggled to pick up the slack in Anaheim. The Ducks haven’t made much use of Jhonas Enroth, who’s available for duty after he was acquired from the Maple Leafs in January for a seventh-round pick in 2018.

The Blackhawks have some goaltender issues of their own. Scott Darling (.931 SV%) suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury last week and isn’t expected back until the end of March. However, No. 1 netminder Corey Crawford (.918 SV%) has played reasonably well this year, winning eight of his last nine starts to move Chicago within a point of the Nashville Predators for first in the West.