• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kane, Blackhawks aim to snap four-game skid

Dec 12, 2007 - 2:44 PM Los Angeles (12-16-2) at Chicago (14-13-2) 8:30 pm EST

CHICAGO (Ticker) - After a promising November, the Chicago Blackhawks have been atrocious to begin this month.

Rookie Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks aim to pick up their first point of the month when they host the lowly Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.

Chicago, which went 8-3-2 in November, is the only team in the league yet to record a point in December.

The Blackhawks have lost four straight and part of their struggles can be traced to the recent lack of production from Kane. The first overall pick in this year's draft, Kane leads Chicago with 21 assists and 28 points, but has recorded just one assist during the losing streak.

Meanwhile, Nikolai Khabibulin has lost his last three starts, and has a 3.40 goals-against average during that stretch. Still, the 13-year veteran is a solid 15-5-0 with a 1.81 GAA and six shutouts vs. the Kings since 1997.

Los Angeles, which has won two of three, lost its top goaltender, Jason LaBarbera to a rib injury on December 1. Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 26 shots in a 4-2 win over Vancouver on Monday.

The Kings, who are tied with Phoenix for the worst record in the Western Conference, have won two straight for the first time since a four-game winning streak from October 19-27.