Detroit Red Wings (23–29–8) vs Chicago Blackhawks (25–26–9)
6:30pm CST
Little Caesars Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Cam Ward (13–9–4, SV%: .895, GAA: 3.69)
Detroit – Jimmy Howard (17–16–5, SV%: .913, GAA: 2.80)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (21.9%, 10th)
Detroit (16.1%, 25th)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.4%, 31st)
Detroit (77.7%, 25th)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.9, 15th; 35.4, 30th)
Detroit (29.8, 25th; 32.8, 24th)
Shooting %
Chicago (10.4%, 9th)
Detroit (9.3%, 19th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.8%, T17th)
Detroit (51.1%, 9th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Detroit 6’2” 201lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura
Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–Brendan Perlini
Slater Koekkoek–Gustav Forsling
Detroit Red Wings
Tyler Bertuzzi–Dylan Larkin–Anthony Mantha
Thomas Vanek–Frans Nielsen–Darren Helm
Christoffer Ehn–Luke Glendening–Andreas Athanasiou
Justin Abdelkader–Jacob de la Rose–Michael Rasmussen
Analysis
After a wild shootout win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at the United Center, the Blackhawks travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings for the second and final time this season. Sadly, the rivalry has lost its luster since the Red Wings moved to the Eastern Conference, but Wednesday’s game has a lot of meaning for the Blackhawks as they push for a playoff spot.
The Blackhawks sit one point out of a playoff spot. A large part of that spot in the standings has to once again be credited to the excellent play of Patrick Kane. His now 18-game point streak and 17-game assist streak continue to roll on as the season closes in on the playoffs. Other notable performances come from Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat as both players are among the top point getters (along with Kane) in the month of February.
The Red Wings see the Blackhawks for the second time in ten days since their 5-2 loss at the United Center on February 10th. Since then, the Red Wings are 2-1-1 beating quality opponent Nashville and not so quality opponent Ottawa (beating both teams by a score of 3-2). Back to back losses to Philadelphia over the weekend bring the Red Wings into Wednesday night’s matchup looking to get back in the win column.
The last time the Red Wings and Blackhawks played, Dylan Larkin and Gustav Nyquist (who we noted in our preview as players to watch), both had a major impact on that game. The game was much closer late than the 5-2 score suggested to the box score scanner. Another notable player the Blackhawks need to watch is Andreas Athanasiou. “AA” has the speed to break the game open and get behind the Blackhawks defense, especially with the chance that Brent Seabrook once again misses the game due to injury.