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Blackhawks face Oilers in last-place matchup

Feb 6, 2008 - 1:08 PM Chicago (23-24-5) at Edmonton (24-26-5) 9:00 pm EST

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- The Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers face off Wednesday in a matchup of last-place teams, but the teams are in a vastly different situation in their respective divisions.

While the Blackhawks trail the first-place Detroit Red Wings by 35 points in the Central Division, the Oilers still are within striking distance of first-place Minnesota in the Northwest, sitting just 11 points behind the Wild.

Edmonton, which is 3-3-0 in its last six games, is coming off a 5-0 home victory over Calgary on Monday. It was the Oilers' first contest since losing leading scorer Shawn Horcoff (21 goals, 29 assists) for the rest of the season due to impending left shoulder surgery.

Wednesday's contest concludes Edmonton's four-game homestand, on which it is 1-2-0.

The Blackhawks are 0-3-1 in their last four games and 1-0-1 on their current seven-game road trip. Chicago has not played since Saturday, when it dropped a 3-2 decision in a shootout at San Jose.

Nikolai Khabibulin is 3-1-1 with a 1.59 goals-against average against the Oilers over his career but is 0-8-2 with a 3.22 GAA in his last 10 games.

Chicago is 1-0-1 against Edmonton this season, with four of its five goals in the series coming from its defensemen.