Fri Jan 4 11:00:01 2008

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Blackhawks cap road trip in Anaheim

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(Sports Network) - The Chicago Blackhawks will close out their three-game road trip tonight without one half of their rookie duo, as the club will battle the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.

Chicago learned on Thursday that forward Jonathan Toews, who leads all NHL rookies with 15 goals, will be out a month due to a sprained left knee. The former third-overall pick of the 2006 draft joins an injured reserve list for Chicago that already includes Martin Havlat (groin), James Wisniewski (knee), Brent Sopel (broken finger) and Jason Williams (groin) among others.

However, the Blackhawks still have the league's leading scorer among rookies in Patrick Kane, who is tops with 38 points (9 goals, 29 assists). He has a helper in five straight games including Thursdays's 4-2 loss to Phoenix.

Cam Barker and Kris Versteeg scored for the Blackhawks, who are winless in their last three games (0-2-1) following a four-game win streak. Nikolai Khabibulin allowed three goals on 22 shots in the loss.

The Blackhawks will try to avoid matching their season high for losses this season, as the club dropped four in a row from December 1-9.

Chicago has lost six of its last seven on the road (1-5-1), where it is 7-8-2 overall on the season.

The Ducks halted a two-game skid on Wednesday to post their fifth win in seven games with a 2-1 victory over Columbus. Chris Pronger registered a goal and an assist to lead the way.

Ryan Getzlaf also posted a goal and an assist to up his team-leading total to 42 points, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 saves in the win. Getzlaf has two goals and four assists over a five-game point streak, while Todd Bertuzzi posted an assist to give him two goals and three assists over a five-game point streak of his own.

The Ducks, who have been boosted by the return of defenseman Scott Niedermayer and the trade that brought Doug Weight to town, made another minor move on Wednesday. Anaheim acquired Brandon Bochenski from Boston in exchange for defenseman Shane Hnidy and a sixth-round draft pick in 2008.

Bochenski, a 24-year-old Minnesota native, registered six assists in 20 games this season for the Bruins.

Anaheim began a stretch on Wednesday that sees the club play six of its next seven at home, where the club is 11-6-4 on the year. After tonight's game, the Ducks head to Phoenix before returning home for four straight.

The Ducks have won three straight and 10 of the last 11 against the Blackhawks. That includes a victory in the first meeting of the season in Chicago on December 7.

The Blackhawks have also dropped six in a row at home to the Ducks and haven't won consecutive games in the series since the 2001-02 season.