Preview: Blackhawks at Hurricanes

  

 

Chicago Blackhawks (7-7-2) at Carolina Hurricanes (6-5-3)

7PM Eastern/6PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: WGN/Fox Sports CAR

 

GOALIES:

Chicago:

Anton Forsberg (0-1-2, 4.26 GAA, .895 save%)

Carolina:

Scott Darling (4-3-3, 2.35 GAA, .910 save%)

 

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

Saad-Toews-Panik

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

Bouma-Kero-DeBrincat

Sharp-Wingels-Hartman

Keith-Franson

Murphy-Seabrook

Forsling-Rutta

Carolina

Aho-Staal-Teravainen

Skinner-Ryan-Lindholm

McGinn-Rask-Williams

Nordstrom-Kruger-Jooris

Slavin-Pesce

Fleury-Faulk

Hanifin-van Riemsdyk

 

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power play:

Chicago 12.9% (30th)

Carolina 13% (29th)

Penalty kill:

Chicago 85.2% (6th)

Carolina 78.6% (22nd)

Corsi For % (5-on-5)

Chicago 50.4% (13th)

Carolina 56.5% (1st)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.0% (22nd)

Carolina 52.0% (6th)

 

SUMMARY:

What would, in “normal” Blackhawks seasons, be seen as nothing more than an early season reunion of ex-Blackhawks in an otherwise winnable road game, can’t be seen that way tonight.

Not a “must-win” for the Blackhawks, but a game where a win would be a huge relief and perhaps something to turn around the psychology of the team.

Sure, Carolina is stacked with ex-Hawks: Scott Darling, Marcus Kruger, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Teuvo Teravainen and Joakim Nordstrom, but more importantly, they’ve become a pretty good and deep team, coming off a road win over Columbus last night.

Joel Quenneville has gone back to what appears to be a more sensible set of lines and pairings.

Blackhawk backup netminder Anton Forsberg needs to have a good game in net tonight after a weak outing in Colorado recently.

Look for a recap tonight or early tomorrow.

 

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