Chicago Blackhawks at Winnipeg Jets Preview & Game Thread

  

Chicago Blackhawks (33-38-10 76 PTS)
at
Winnipeg Jets (51-20-10 112 PTS)

TIME: 5:00PM Central/6:00PM Eastern
RADIO: WGN 720
TV: SN, WGN

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
Jeff Glass (3-6-0 W-L | 3.31 GAA | 0.898 SV% | 0 SO)

Winnipeg:
Connor Hellebuyck (43-11-0 W-L | 2.38 GAA | 0.923 SV% | 6 SO)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:
Patrick Sharp – Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Dylan Sikura – Victor Ejdsell – Alex DeBrincat
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Andreas Martinsen
David Kampf – Vinnie Hinostroza

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Connor Murphy
Jordan Oesterle – Jan Rutta/Blake Hillman

Winnipeg:
Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers – Paul Stastny – Patrik Laine
Mathieu Perreault – Andrew Copp – Bryan Little
Brandon Tanev – Adam Lowry – Joel Armia

Josh Morrissey – Tyler Myers
Joe Morrow – Dustin Byfuglien
Ben Chiarot – Tucker Poolman

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power Play:
Chicago 16.0% (28th)
Winnipeg 23.3% (4th)

Penalty Kill:
Chicago 79.2% (20th)
Winnipeg 81.7% (7th)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):
Chicago 52.48% (4th)
Winnipeg 51.42% (10th)

Faceoffs:
Chicago 49.4% (19th)
Winnipeg 52.3% (5th)

SUMMARY:

We all made it without jumping off the Michigan Avenue bridge.  The final game of the Blackhawks’ 2017-18 season is upon us.  It was always possible that they would fall off the table and miss the playoffs, but no one thought it would happen this fast.

To the same token, the league and fans have waited for Winnipeg to finally get over the hump and show that they are better than their recent production.

That day is here.

While they have not played the Blackhawks well, they have rolled through much of the league.  They are about to hit the playoffs with (possibly) the second best point total in the league.

Join our discussion below and look out for a recap following the game or tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @PuckinHostile

About Jeff Osborn

Jeff has covered the Blackhawks since 2009 with his former website www.puckinhostile.com and podcast The Puckin Hostile Shoutcast until 2017, when he moved over to The Rink. After a short hiatus to cover the inaugural Seattle Kraken season, he came back to Blackhawks coverage and started "The Net Perspective" podcast to discuss goaltending and goaltender development.

     

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