Chicago Blackhawks (9–13–5) vs Calgary Flames (15–9–2)
6:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN 720
PROJECTED GOALIES
Chicago – Corey Crawford (5-10, SV%: 0.901 GAA: 3.18)
Calgary– David Rittich (8-2, SV%: 0.924 GAA: 2.21)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (11.8%, 31st)
Calgary (20.9%, 14th)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (74.0%, 28th)
Calgary (76.3%, 25th)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.1, 13th; 33.4, 26th)
Calgary (33.4, 6th; 28.0, 3rd)
Shooting %
Chicago (8.6%, 24th)
Calgary (10.1%, 10th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.4%,18th)
Calgary (52.0%, 7th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Calgary 6’1″, 199lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Brendan Perlini – Jonathan Toews – Brandon Saad
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane
Dominik Kahun – David Kampf – John Hayden
Marcus Kruger – Artem Anisimov – Andreas Martinsen
Duncan Keith – Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Gustav Forsling
Analysis
The Blackhawks welcome the Pacific Division leader to the United Center after an embarrassing loss in Nashville against the Predators, last night.
The Flames have won four of their last six games, scoring 3 or more goals in all but one of those games.
Since the Blackhawks have a tough time stopping anyone this season, the Flames presents a tough test tonight for the Blackhawks’ defense. The Flames has a lot of talent up and down their lineup and, despite struggles from goaltender Mike Smith, David “big save Dave” Rittich has stepped up and provided the goaltending needed to complement Calgary’s roster.
For the Blackhawks to have any chance tonight, they will need to take advantage of every shot possible on Rittich. Calgary is a top team at shot suppression, so if the Blackhawks cannot capitalize and generate quality chances early and often, the Flames will likely suffocate the Blackhawks’ offense this evening.
Comment below in our live game thread tonight!
And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.