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Will Blackhawks be seeing stars again?

The last time the Blackhawks squared off with the Dallas Stars, Jonathan Toews and Co. were left seeing stars after suffering a 4-0 whitewashing.

So will there be extra motivation for the Hawks when they get a second chance against former mates Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya and Antti Niemi on Saturday?

"Well, no doubt," Toews told Comcast SportsNet after the Hawks beat Arizona 5-4 in overtime Thursday. "You think back to the last time - before Christmas break - where they knocked us around their rink pretty good there.

"So I think that's something we have to remember; try and use that and definitely be better in this next one."

The Stars were certainly flying high after that victory on Dec. 22 as they improved to 26-7-2 and held an 8-point edge over St. Louis atop the Central Division.

Then a strange thing happened: The Stars went into a wicked 3-6-3 tailspin and the Hawks (after losing five days later to Carolina) ripped off 12 straight victories.

Now the teams are in a dead heat atop the division (the Hawks lead by 3 points, but Dallas has three games in hand), and they'll meet four times in six weeks in tilts that figure to go a long, long way in determining playoff seeding, if not a division winner.

Coach Lindy Ruff's Stars have righted the ship after that rough stretch, winning four of their last five, including a 4-3 overtime win Thursday in Colorado. That came with a price, though, as Dallas lost 32-year-old center Jason Spezza to an upper-body injury. Ruff wouldn't go into specifics, but said Spezza would be lost "for a little bit of time."

That's a significant setback for Dallas, since Spezza is tied with Sharp for the fourth-most points on the team with 40 (18G, 22A).

Meanwhile, while nothing's official, watch for Niemi to get the call in net. He's started the last five games in place of the struggling Kari Lehtonen and stopped all 20 shots in Dallas' first win over the Hawks.

Hossa resurgence:

It's unlikely anybody needed the all-star break more than Marian Hossa. The 37-year-old has certainly looked like a new man in the first two games since the break, firing 7 shots (5 on goal) at Colorado on Tuesday and scoring the Hawks' first goal at Arizona on Thursday.

The Slovakian, who had a goal overturned on review in the first period, turned into a comedian after tying the game against the Coyotes, too. Hossa stared down a referee and waved his arms back and forth while asking, "No goal? No goal?"

Just over a minute later, he sent a perfect pass to Jonathan Toews that Toews buried for a short-handed tally to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

"He had a great game," Quenneville said of Hossa. "He had the puck a lot, good backside pressure … coming up with the puck in tight areas.

"We like Hoss whether he's scoring or not. But I thought he had a real presence in (Thursday's) game."

Coming up roses:

Michal Rozsival was in the right place at the right time Thursday and scored for the first time this season when he redirected a perfect pass from Artem Anisimov into the net in the third period of the Hawks' OT win over Arizona.

It was just Rozsival's 13th goal since the start of the 2009-10 season.

"He's just that steady presence," Jonathan Toews told Comcast SportsNet. "He brings a lot of experience. He's a talented player; he's a great playmaker - always has his head up and is great at making that first pass out of our zone. …

"It was nice to see him kind of activating on the 4-on-4 play there and tapping one home after a nice play from Arty and Bread Man (Artemi Panarin)."

It was just Anisimov's 11th assist of the season, a figure that ranks him 10th on the team.

Slapshots:

Twenty-nine games into the season, Jonathan Toews was on pace for a 23-goal campaign. Since then, however, the Hawks' captain has racked up 13 goals and is on pace to tie his career high of 32. … Artemi Panarin (3 assists Thursday) needs 19 more in the last 27 games to tie Patrick Kane's rookie record of 51 in a season. … Duncan Keith played a season-high 31:38 on Thursday.

Scouting report

Blackhawks (35-16-4) vs. Dallas Stars (33-14-5) at American Airlines Center, 7 p.m. Saturday

TV: WGN

Radio: WGN 720-AM

The skinny: This is the second of five matchups between the front-runners for the Central Division crown. Dallas won the first meeting 4-0. Former Hawks wigner Patrick Sharp scored 11 seconds into the third period to make it 2-0, and Dallas never looked back. Sharp has 16 goals, equalling his total from all of last year. He hasn't scored since Jan. 3, however, a span of 11 games. ... Jamie Benn (28G, 30A) and Tyler Seguin (27G, 28A) are second and third, respectively, in the NHL in scoring. Patrick Kane is the league leader with 75 points.

Next: San Jose Sharks at United Center, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

- John Dietz

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