7:30pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Cam Ward (11–8–4, SV%: .895, GAA: 3.67)
New Jersey – Cory Schneider (0–6–2, SV%: .868, GAA: 4.12)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (21.1%, 12th)
New Jersey (18.8%, 17th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.5%, 31st)
New Jersey (84.0%, 4th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.4, 19th; 35.3, 30th)
New Jersey (31.4, 20th; 31.5, 19th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.3%, 10th)
New Jersey (9.2%, 19th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.6%, 17th)
New Jersey (48.5%, 25th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
New Jersey 6’1” 195lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–Marcus Kruger–Dylan Sikura

Chris Kunitz–Artem Anisimov–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Erik Gustafsson

New Jersey Devils

Joey Anderson–Nico Hischier–Jesper Bratt

Marcus Johansson–Travis Zajac–Kyle Palmieri

Kenny Agostino–Pavel Zacha–Nick Lappin

Brett Seney–Kevin Rooney–Kurtis Gabriel

Andy Greene–Damon Severson

Will Butcher–Ben Lovejoy

Mirco Mueller–Eric Gryba

Analysis

After seven wins, the Blackhawks win-streak was snapped in Boston on Tuesday night. The Blackhawks welcome the lowly Devils to the United Center on Thursday night for a Valentine’s Day showdown.

Chris Kunitz will likely take Brendan Perlini’s place in the lineup, as tonight’s game will mark the 1,000th of Kunitz’s career. The Blackhawks have had the ability to host two of these ceremonies in the last calendar year, as both Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith reached their 1,000th games with the team.

The Blackhawks will look to start a new win-streak on Thursday evening. Cory Schneider (unless there is a last minute change) will be starting in net. His poor stat line may be deceiving, but the Devils have struggled as a team this year, so Thursday presents a great opportunity for the Blackhawks to get back on track.

The Devils are licking their wounds as they enter Thursday’s matchup. Their 8-3 loss to the Blues was not nearly as close as suggested. The Devils were completely manhandled by the red-hot Blues, and look to avoid such an outcome against the Blackhawks, fresh off their seven-game win-streak. In the Devils’ last seven games, they are 2-4-1, helping them slip to within three points of the Ottawa Senators and the best odds to win the draft lottery.

The Devils will still be without their MVP and perennial superstar, Taylor Hall, for Thursday’s game. Although expected back sooner than later, the Devils lack a huge presence in their lineup.

A small bright spot for the Devils’ organization is the homecoming for forward Kenny Agostino. Agostino spent time this year with the Canadiens, after time last season with the Bruins organization and the Blues organization before that, before being claimed off waivers by his hometown team. The former AHL leading scorer will look to help his hometown club rebound after his first game with the club did not go so well on Tuesday.

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.

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