First up for the Kraken were the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Could Seattle continue their good play against some of the NHL’s elite teams or would they get pushed around in Florida?

Unfortunately for the visitors, it was the latter. A goal just 2:52 into the game by depth forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ended up being the only goal that the Lightning needed. Bellemare snapped a shot, at the right faceoff circle, past a surprised Philipp Grubauer for a 1–0 lead. Once again, a goal that Grubauer would probably love back.

The Kraken would not get more than seven shots on net in any of the three periods. They ended with seven in each of the first and second periods, and just three shots in the third.

Goals by Ross Colton (0:31 into the second) and Steven Stamkos (halfway through the third), just added salt into the wound for a game that the Kraken were not prepared for. Final shot totals were 26–13 in favor of the Lightning as the Kraken were shut out for the first time in franchise history.

Anchor points

Back to the goaltending. After two great outings, Grubauer gave up two pretty pedestrian goals before the Stamkos one-timer in the third but the game very could have well been 0–0 at that point.

The hot power play streak came to an end. For the first time in five games, the Kraken did not convert.

Adam Larsson and Jeremy Lauzon were on the ice for all three Tampa goals. I am beginning to think that Lauzon is going to drag down whoever he is paired with.

The possession and analytics metrics were heavily in favor of the home team. The 5-on-5 in shot attempts (Corsi 62%-38%), unblocked shots (Fenwick 63%-37%), high danger chances for (HDCF% 82%–18%), and expected goal for (xGF% 71%-29%) all showed just how dominant that Tampa was. As you can see below, Seattle was able to get nowhere near Andrei Vasilevskiy, which will rarely result in success.

There was one player that was not completely crushed in possession metrics, Morgan Geekie (58.33% Corsi).

No rest for the weary as the Kraken head to Sunrise, Florida on tomorrow to face the first place overall Florida Panthers. The puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Kraken run out of power, lose to Lightning 3–0 appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks outclassed against Tampa Bay Lightning

To start off their 2021 campaign, the Blackhawks had the unfortunate pleasure of playing the defending Stanley Cup Champions on the road in Tampa Bay. With a healthy Steven Stamkos, the Lightning overwhelmed the Blackhawks to the tune of a 5–1 outcome on opening night. Stamkos recorded one goal and two assists in the victory.

The lone Blackhawks goal was on a pass attempt from Dylan Strome that deflected in off of two Lightning players to beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Despite the loss, there were some positives for the Blackhawks. Pius Suter looks to be a promising NHL player and Ian Mitchell looked like an NHL defenseman. Mitchell is among the most notable prospects to watch with Kirby Dach being out of the lineup.

In their second meeting, the Vasilevskiy stole the show by making 35 saves to seal a 5–2 victory for the defending champs. The Bolts’ line of Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow combined for six points, while Stamkos chipped in another goal and assist.

The Blackhawks’ goals were scored by Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, and Collin Delia made 32 saves in the loss. Even though Chicago lost, it was an improvement over their first game of the season. The team showed some resilience cutting the lead to 3–2 in the second period, but talent won the day in this matchup. Of note, Philipp Kurashev had a solid NHL debut in the losing effort.

Joel Quenneville revenge game

In their final game of the week, the Blackhawks squared off against the Florida Panthers. It is the third meeting between the Blackhawks and Panthers since Joel Quenneville took his coaching talents to Florida.

Early in the game, Quenneville challenged a Patrick Kane goal assisted by Suter. Suter set up Kane with a spin-o-rama pass for the goal. However, the challenge revealed that Kane was offside, negating the highlight-reel tally and what would have been Suter’s first NHL point.

Despite playing their best game of the season, the Blackhawks still allowed five goals for the third straight game and fell to the Panthers 5–2. The Panthers got goals from Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, Eetu Luostarinen, Patric Hornqvist and Jonathan Huberdeau.

The Blackhawks got goals from Connor Murphy and DeBrincat in the loss. In addition, the Blackhawks got promising play from Suter and Kurshaev again. Kurashev looks to be on the brink of recording his first NHL point, while Suter continues to bring energy and skill to the Blackhawks.

Chicago’s major issues through three games

After three games this season, the Blackhawks are faced with some tough decisions about Adam Boqvist. Boqvist appears to be showing little to no improvement defensively from last season and looks to perhaps even be regressing. His play has gotten so bad that in the game against Florida, Boqvist was replaced by Duncan Keith on the power play and saw reduced ice time as a whole, playing just 13:36 in the loss. If Boqvist cannot be used on the power play, his current value greatly diminishes. In a season where development for the future is one of the primary goals, Boqvist regressing is not promising.

Another issue facing the Blackhawks is Dominik Kubalik’s lack of ice time. After having a breakout rookie season in 2019–20, Kubalik has been reduced to playing bottom-six minutes. He is currently averaging a full minute less of ice time this season compared to last season.

Head Coach Jeremy Colliton said after the first game that Kubalik needed to play better and he will play better. When his ice time did not significantly change after the third game of the season, Colliton stated the ice times were out of whack on the stat sheet and that’s why Kubalik’s line was so low. This is something to watch in future games.

The last major issue plaguing the Blackhawks is their lack of quality goaltending. Everyone knew goaltending would be an issue this season. After three games, two starts by Delia and one by Malcolm Subban, the Blackhawks’ current save percentage is .848 and the goals against average is 5.00. The Blackhawks have to find some consistent goaltending to not get embarrassed in every game this season.

What’s next?

The Blackhawks will resume action Tuesday against the Panthers in Florida before returning home to face the Detroit Red Wings on Friday in Chicago’s home opener at the United Center.

The post Blackhawks drop three in a row to start season appeared first on The Rink.

Live look at the Tampa Bay Lightning pic.twitter.com/YDCHRxEyBW

— MikeB (@TB_MikeB) February 27, 2020

First period

The game started off with some back and forth, with both teams getting some quality chances in front of each others’ nets before Connor Murphy got called for hooking, which gave the Lightning their first power play of the evening. The Blackhawks killed that off thanks to some good shot blocks and good saves by Crawford. Then, shortly thereafter, the Blackhawks got their first power play of the night on a Yanni Gourde tripping call. Chicago was entirely unsuccessful on the man advantage, not getting many chances on net and giving up another power play to the Lightning on a Patrick Kane hook. That penalty was also killed off, giving way to more even-strength back and forth.

The Blackhawks got another opportunity on the power play with just under seven minutes to go, but once again, the Lightning were able to kill that one off. Sounding like a broken record, the Blackhawks went on the penalty kill right after that when Brandon Saad got his stick up high on Zach Bogosian. The Blackhawks killed that off, and then got their third man advantage of the period on an Alex Killorn trip. The Blackhawks would not score on that power play, but it would carry over to the second period. This period of penalties would end with the same 0–0 tie that we started off with.

Second period

The Blackhawks’ power play again failed to generate a goal, although they did get the best shot on Curtis McElhinney they had to that point, but could not do anything with it. The Blackhawks picked up a gift power play shortly after, as the Lightning picked up a too-many-men-on-the-ice call at the 6:20 mark of the period. Chicago seemed to have the mindset of passing instead of shooting the puck on goal, as their pass total was greater than their shots on goal for all four of their power plays to that point.

This period was not very exciting to watch, as there ended up being more turnovers of the puck than actual chances on net for either side. At the 10:42 mark there was, yes, another penalty called (surprise, surprise), this time on Connor Murphy for tripping, giving the Lightning their next man advantage of the game. Tampa Bay failed to convert on that one due to some great saves by Crawford, leaving the game still knotted at a 0–0 tie.

Then, the Lightning finally broke through, as Brayden Point skated around the defense and let go of a wrister from between the circles that got past Crawford and gave Tampa Bay a 1–0 lead. That is how the period would end, with the Lightning outshooting the Blackhawks by a wide margin, and as a result, taking the lead.

Third period

Things started off roughly for the visitors, as the Lightning doubled their lead on a Nikita Kucherov tap-in goal to make the score 2–0 Lightning just 17 seconds into the frame. At the 2:28 mark of the period, Luke Schenn took an interference penalty that gave the Blackhawks another chance to get the powerless play out on the ice. They did not look good again, but surprisingly were able to keep possession in the offensive zone, which led to Saad getting the puck in front and getting the Blackhawks to within one at 2–1.

Just 26 ticks later, Duncan Keith took a big hit to make a play, getting the puck to Patrick Kane who got it to Dominik Kubalik, who scored on his own rebound, tying the game at 2–2. Slater Koekkoek took an interference call after that, giving the Lightning another power play opportunity. The Blackhawks killed that off and a little while later, the very same Koekkoek got the puck out at the point, skated to the middle and wristed the puck through a sea of legs and into the back of the net, giving the Blackhawks a 3–2 lead.

Once again, the Blackhawks got back on the man advantage on a Kucherov slash on Kane. The puck found its way to the rookie sensation once again, and Kubalik slapped a top-shelf bullet past McElhinney to make the score 4–2 Blackhawks.

The Lightning tried to get back into the game by getting an extra attacker, but that gave Kubalik his third goal of the night for the hat trick, making the score 5–2 Blackhawks. The Blackhawks showed some fight throughout the third period until the end, even getting into some extracurriculars toward the end of things, and pulled out the comeback victory after scoring five third-period goals.

Let’s go along the boards and see what was being talked about during tonight’s action.

I think Stan&Co finally acknowledged it's time to start tearing it down. Problem is all the no move clauses and those predisposed to injury… Not going to be an overnight fix. https://t.co/fATdsno9KT

— Rocky Top Out (@rtopout) February 28, 2020

I agree that it definitely is not going to be an overnight fix at all. There is much work to be done in the offseason, and to start with, I would say this front office and coaching staff need to go. They are not doing anything to get this team turned around and moving in a positive direction. Sitting on your trade chips for too long and barely getting two trades that needed to happen done is inexcusable. I also am someone who sees Jeremy Colliton as a good assistant coach in the league, but definitely is not cut out to be a head coach at this point. There is no fight from him, and that clearly shows with the way the team in front of him plays night by night.

Stats/Takeaways from the 2nd period:

• Corey Crawford with 16 saves in that second period to keep the game 1-0. He’s got 26 on the night.
• Duncan Keith’s already up to 20:21 TOI to lead the #Blackhawks.
• Connor Murphy now has 3 penalties in the last 5 periods. #CHIvsTB

— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) February 28, 2020

Crawford looked good in this game. He made some good saves on some crazy Lightning shots and did everything he could to keep his team in this game. He controlled rebounds well, and was great at keeping the puck away from the opposition. Murphy…yikes; that is not a pretty stat to see.

Enjoyed the Broadcast, the Outcome = Happy Human #Blackhawks

— Jet7111 (@jet7111) February 28, 2020

As did all Blackhawks fans, my friend. A pleasant surprise in what has been a difficult season to watch.

The Blackhawks are back in action on Saturday against the Florida Panthers. The game will start at 5 p.m. CST on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks take over in third, beat Lightning 5–2 appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks lines and pairings were as follows:

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander

Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane

Kirby Dach — Andrew Shaw

Ryan Carpenter — David Kampf — Zack Smith

Duncan Keith — Calvin de Haan

Olli Maatta — Connor Murphy

Erik Gustafsson — Brent Seabrook

Slater Koekkoek

Prior to puck drop, former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell took the ice for One More Shift. It was an awesome moment no one will ever forget.

What are the chances they're talking about 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs?#10neGoal #OneMoreShift pic.twitter.com/HGGC8tSe49

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 22, 2019

First period

With only 11 forwards for the Blackhawks in this matchup, Patrick Kane took on the task of double-shifting on the third line. Slater Koekkoek and Erik Gustafsson seemed to be alternating shifts on the third pairing with Brent Seabrook.

The game was pretty much even for the Blackhawks and the Lightning in the first 20 minutes. Both teams stifled transition opportunities against each other and whenever one team managed to get some offensive zone time, they didn’t allow many chances. With around 9 minutes remaining in the first period, the Lightning had a couple of great scoring opportunities, but Corey Crawford stood tall and stopped them.

After Slater Koekkoek drew a cross-checking penalty on Alex Killorn, the Blackhawks new power play units got to work. The first unit of Erik Gustafsson, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, and Andrew Shaw got a couple of good looks. Kirby Dach got his chance on the second unit, but the Blackhawks couldn’t convert on the man advantage.

Directly after the Lightning killed the penalty, Duncan Keith sat for interference on Brayden Point. While the kill looked good to start, Ryan Carpenter blocked Corey Crawford’s view of Mikhail Sergachev‘s point shot and it found its way into the net to give the Lightning the lead.

POWER PLAY GOAL!! @TBLightning's Mikhail Sergachev scores on a Power Play! #GoBolts

Don't miss any more of the action! Watch now on FOX Sports Sun or FOX Sports Go here: https://t.co/8RrQyQUIjk pic.twitter.com/FkmGBrL2mU

— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) November 22, 2019

Within the last five minutes, the Blackhawks put the pressure on the Lightning and earned a power play opportunity with under 15 seconds left. After the first period, Tampa Bay held a 1-0 lead over Chicago and a 14-12 advantage in shots.

Second period

The trends from the first frame continued into the beginning of the second. When each team had the puck, they maintained pressure but couldn’t create prime scoring chances. That changed as the Lightning held onto the puck more as the period continued.

Everything seemed really boring this period, until the Blackhawks coughed up the puck with around five minutes left in the period. Chicago allowed a two-on-one but Crawford stymied Anthony Cirelli before the rebound hit the crossbar. That was the best chance for either team during the second period.

With four minutes remaining, Chicago circled the puck around Tampa Bay and Patrick Kane generated what was the Blackhawks’ best chance of the period. This all led to the Lightning taking their third penalty of the game with four minutes remaining. A good opportunity to tie the game for the Blackhawks was wasted, as they could not find shooting lanes for themselves. While the power play units sustained control in the offensive zone, the theme seemed to be a lack of shots with the advantage.

At the end of 40 minutes, the Lightning continued to lead the Blackhawks 1-0 and shots were 24-20 in favor of the visitors.

Third period

The Blackhawks didn’t get off the greatest start after the puck dropped for the third period. David Kampf was called for boarding around the three-minute mark and Zack Smith left the ice after taking a puck up high. So, Chicago was without one of their penalty-killing forwards, but they managed to kill the minor.

Then came the third-period push for the home team. Puck possession for the Blackhawks actually led to scoring chances when they were in the offensive zone. They circled the puck around the Lightning and it founds its way to Brent Seabrook. He went down low, almost below the goal line, and shot the puck off Curtis McElhinney‘s back to tie the game at one with just over ten minutes left in the third.

Seabrook threads the needle to tie it up pic.twitter.com/Ym9zt0cJJL

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 22, 2019

What looked to be a momentum swing was quickly washed away when the Lightning were able to grab the puck again just over a minute later. Mathieu Joseph and Olli Maatta crashed together and the refs missed a blatant high-sticking call as Joseph got his stick up around Maatta’s face. That allowed the puck to slide past him to Alex Killorn, who found an open Victor Hedman at the point. His shot was tipped by Anthony Cirelli and the Lightning regained the lead.

Although the Blackhawks continued to pressure, the Lightning took advantage of their defensive breakdowns yet again. A puck battle in the neutral zone was lost by the Blackhawks and Ondrej Palat came up with the puck. Maatta, the only defenseman back, slid to his stomach for the stick check, but Palat went around his skates and slipped the puck to an uncovered Brayden Point. He gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead with 7:30 left in the game.

It looked as if things were over for the Blackhawks when Brandon Saad sat for hooking, but they pulled Corey Crawford early after the penalty kill pushed momentum their way. With just under three minutes left to play, Chicago won a faceoff with six attackers on the ice. Patrick Kane patiently waited until he found a shooting lane, and the puck found its way through multiple bodies in front. McElhinney stopped the original shot, but Dylan Strome corralled the puck and slipped it above the right shoulder of the Lightning goaltender to bring the Blackhawks within a goal.

The #Blackhawks won't go quiet into that good night!

Strome brings them within 1! pic.twitter.com/Jy7YSYOZMp

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 22, 2019

But all hopes of tying the game were cut short when Anthony Cirelli single-handedly worked the puck out of his own zone and found Cedric Paquette, who buried the empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 win for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Overall, the Lightning outshot the Blackhawks 35-34 in what turned out to be a close game.

Pluses

• Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 11 game with an assist on Dylan Strome’s goal. After a rough start to the season, he’s looking to be back to normal. He was an absolute beast in this game, double-shifting on the second and third lines and accumulating the most time on ice of any player on either team (27:52).
• After a rough game against the Hurricanes, the Blackhawks seemed to put together a better defensive effort this time out. They kept up with the Lightning in terms of shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger chances. If they can continue this pattern and score more at the same time, they just might win some of these close games.

Minuses

• I don’t know what Jeremy Colliton was thinking going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen tonight, and it’s clear by the post-game comments from Jonathan Toews the team didn’t get it either. I get that the team struggled against Carolina, but you won four in a row prior to that with the same lineup. Why would you switch something that was working all that time just because it fell short once? This tactic almost never works, and it was obvious the Blackhawks looked extremely disjointed throughout the majority of the game with a disjointed lineup.

The Blackhawks will head to Dallas to take on the red-hot Stars Saturday night at American Airlines Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks drop second straight game, fall to Lightning 4-2 appeared first on The Rink.

7:30 p.m. CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

Projected starting goaltenders

Chicago — Corey Crawford (4–4–2, .914 save percentage, 3.01 goals against average)
Tampa Bay — Curtis McElhinney (2–1–2, .906 save percentage, 3.76 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (13.8%, 28th)
Tampa Bay (29.6%, Second)

Penalty kill
Chicago (80.3%, 18th)
Tampa Bay (78.1%, 21st)

Shots for/against
Chicago (30.1, 20th; 36.9, 31st)
Tampa Bay (31.8, 15th; 33.6, 28th)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (10.0%)
Tampa Bay (11.2%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (48.5%, 26th)
Tampa Bay (51.4%, Eighth)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 197 pounds
Tampa Bay — 6-foot-1, 199 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Andrew Shaw
Ryan Carpenter — Kirby Dach — Zack Smith

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Connor Murphy

Tampa Bay Lightning

Ondrej Palat — Brayden Point — Steven Stamkos
Carter Verhaeghe — Tyler Johnson — Cory Conacher
Alex Killorn — Anthony Cirelli — Mathieu Joseph
Pat Maroon — Cedric Paquette — Yanni Gourde

Victor Hedman — Kevin Shattenkirk
Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev — Jan Rutta

Analysis

All good things come to an end. The Blackhawks’ winning streak was ended by the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Jonathan Toews stated the Blackhawks were tired from the arduous schedule. Despite the loss, the Blackhawks had a positive third period, getting goals from Connor Murphy and Erik Gustafsson. In addition to goals from Murphy and Gustafsson, Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 10 games and is second in the league with 17 points in the month of November. Kane needs one assist to hit 600 career assists.

Kane was not the only Blackhawks forward to extend a point streak. Rookie sensation Kirby Dach extended his career-long point streak to five games and became the third 18-year-old player in franchise history to have a point streak of five games or more. Only Bobby Hull (eight) and Eddie Olczyk (11) have longer point streaks in franchise history for 18-year-olds.

The Blackhawks’ goalie tandem continued to stay hot, as Robin Lehner recorded another amazing outing. Despite facing several two-on-zero attacks from the Hurricanes, Lehner recorded 29 saves on 32 shots. However, it will be Corey Crawford‘s turn in the net Thursday against the Lightning. In his last five games, Crawford is 3–0–2 with a .937 save percentage and 2.79 goals against average. The excellent goaltending has the fan base brimming with confidence in both goalies.

The Lightning come into Chicago in the midst of a two-game losing streak and are looking to regain their winning ways. The Blackhawks seem to be a get-well team for the Lightning, as Tampa Bay has swept the series for three consecutive years. If the Lightning want to continue their winning ways against the Blackhawks, they need Victor Hedman to continue to produce at a high level. Hedman is riding high on five-game point streak, his longest of the season.

Can the Blackhawks beat the Lightning during the regular season or will the recent regular-season dominance of the Lightning continue?

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning appeared first on The Rink.

Kunitz, 39, joined the Blackhawks on July 1, 2019, signing a one-year contract in a depth leadership role with the team, returning to his wife’s hometown to wind down his career. In only 56 games, he had just 10 points (five goals, five assists) but was able to surpass the elusive 1,000 NHL games played plateau.

He previously won Stanley Cups with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, 2016 and 2017. He was voted an NHL All Star in 2013 while amassing 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) in only 48 games of the strike shortened season playing on Sidney Crosby’s wing. Kunitz represented Team Canada in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, held in Sochi, Russia, collecting one goal and winning a gold medal.

Earlier this month, Kunitz was spotted mingling with Blackhawks management at the recent Blackhawks prospect and development camp, so this announcement comes as no surprise. His new position within the organization will be titled “player development adviser,” which sounds very similar to what former Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell did last season. Campbell spent a good amount of time helping monitor and guide defenseman Adam Boqvist’s development in the OHL with the London Knights.

The Regina, Saskatchewan, native finished his career with 1,022 games played, 619 regular season points (268 goals, 351 assists) and 93 playoff points (27 goals, 66 assists) playing for Anaheim, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Chicago.

The post Chris Kunitz retires, takes front office position with Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

Koekkoek was due to become a restricted free agent this summer, after being acquired Jan. 11 (with a 5th round pick this year) from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jan Rutta (and a seventh round pick this year). The terms for the deal are $925,000, which is a slight raise from last season’s $865,000.

After coming to the Blackhawks, Koekkoek played 22 games, scoring one goal and four assists. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound (mainly) seventh defenseman also put together some positive possession numbers (51.8 Corsi / 51.9 Fenwick) during his stretch run with the team.

After getting drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL entry draft, the Winchester, Ontario, native found a pretty full Lightning defensive corp tough to crack. Koekkoek provides a more cost effective option for head coach Jeremy Colliton. Rutta fell out of favor with Colliton and was re-assigned to Rockford on Dec. 14 prior to the trade.

Rutta signed a one-year extension with the Lightning for $1.3 million on May 3, nearly half what he made in 2018–19.



The post BREAKING: Blackhawks extend Koekkoek for another year appeared first on The Rink.

Koekkoek has one goal in nine NHL games this season. The 24-year old has also played five games with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL this season, registering one assist.

Chicago will take on Koekkoek’s $885,000 salary cap hit, and will also have a decision to make this off-season, as the former first-round pick is a restricted free agent. For his career, Koekkoek has played 85 career NHL games, registering 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists) with Tampa Bay.

Rutta, signed last season for $2.25 million, was recently skating with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL after being demoted in December. The 28-year old has played 80 career NHL games, registering 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists).

The trade does not have a “wow” factor, however, moving up in the draft is always a good thing, even if it is a fifth-round pick. Chicago will also have control over Koekkoek this offseason as a restricted free agent, whereas, Rutta could have walked after the season. Bowman is also taking a shot that Koekkoek can turn into the talent that made him the 10th overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft.

Slater Koekkoek

Jan Rutta

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks Trade Rutta to Lightning appeared first on The Rink.

6:30 p.m. CST/7:30 p.m. EST
Amalie Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN, NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (5–7–1, SV%: 0.918 GAA: 2.57)
Washington – Louis Domingue (6–3–0, SV% . 898, GAA 3.46)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (13.4%, 29^th)
Tampa Bay (28.8%, 5th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (74.2%, 29th)
Tampa Bay (80.5%, T-14th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.7, T-11th; 33.1, T-27th)
Tampa Bay (32.7, T-11th; 32.6, T-22th)

Shooting %
Chicago (8.1%, 26th)
Tampa Bay (11.4%, 3rd)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.8%, 17^th)
Tampa Bay (49.7%, 18th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Tampa Bay 6’1” 197lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Nick Schmaltz–Artem Anisimov–Alex DeBrincat
Alexandre Fortin–David Kampf–Dominik Kahun
John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Andreas Martinsen
Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson–Henri Jokiharju
Gustav Forsling–Jan Rutta

Tampa Bay Lightning

Yanni Gourde–Steven Stamkos–J.T. Miller
Tyler Johnson–Brayden Point–Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn–Anthony Cirelli–Mathieu Joseph
Adam Erne–Cedric Paquette–Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman–Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh–Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn–Mikhail Sergachev

Analysis

The Eastern Conference leading Tampa Bay Lightning host the Blackhawks in the first of a back-to-back for Chicago in the Sunshine State.

Brandon Saad, on a three-game goal streak, will look to continue his hot streak. The 26-year old forward has picked up the slack for Alex DeBrincat, who has found the back of the net just once in twelve games.

With that being said, DeBrincat is currently the only Blackhawks’ forward, outside of the projected top line, with more than two goals on the season. That Chicago fans, is a lack of scoring depth.

The Lightning enter tonight having won 3-of-4 contests. Seven different players scored versus Florida on Wednesday, as the Lightning won 7 – 3.

Russian forward Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 27 points, while center Brayden Point leads with the team with 14 goals. The 22-year old Point trails only Kucherov with 26 points.

The high-flying Lightning outclassed the Blackhawks back in October, in Chicago, tonight will be a great test for the Blackhawks on the road.

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. 

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Lightning appeared first on The Rink.

Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1-1) at Chicago Blackhawks (4-1-2)

6:00pm Central/7:00pm Eastern

United Center

TV/Radio: NHLN-US,NBCSCH,SUN/WGN

PROJECTED GOALIES:Chicago:

Cam Ward (.879 SV%, 4.07 GAA)

Tampa Bay:

Louis Domingue (.950 SV%, 2.00 GAA)

Team statistics:

Power Play

Chicago (8.7%, 29)

Tampa Bay (24.0%, 13)

Penalty Kill

Chicago (71.4%, 26)

Tampa Bay (100%, 1)

Shots for/against per game

Chicago (34.9, 4 – 34.6, 26)

Tampa Bay (30.5, 21 – 34.5, 25)

Shooting%

Chicago (11.1%, 13)

Tampa Bay (11.5%, 8)

Faceoff%

Chicago (49.2%, 21)

Tampa Bay (48.3%, 24)

Avg. height/weight

Chicago

6’1” 195lbs

Tampa Bay

6’1” 195lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

Kunitz-Kampf-Saad

Fortin-Kruger-Martinson

Keith-Jokiharju

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Davidson-Rutta

Tampa Bay

Gourde-Point-Stamkos

Palat-Johnson-Kucherov

Killorn-Cirelli-Joseph

Miller-Paquette-Callahan

Hedman-Girardi

McDonagh-Stralman

Coburn-Sergachev

Analysis:

Both teams enter tonight’s matchup on the second game of a back-to-back. Chicago beat Columbus on the road 4-1, while Tampa Bay lost 5-4 in overtime at Minnesota.

Patrick Kane, coming off a three-point game last night, continues to lead all Blackhawks’ forwards in ice time. Joel Quenneville, known to double shift his talented winger, has entrusted Kane with 22:03 of ice time per game. Next closest forward on the team is Jonathan Toews at 19:42 a night.

As Quenneville looks for scoring balance, Alexandre Fortin played himself a solid game last night. Fortin, who was expected to be a healthy scratch during morning skate, assisted on Marcus Kruger’s game winning goal last night. The 21-year old looks to have the speed and hockey sense to find himself scoring chances.

Expect Cam Ward in net tonight for Chicago. Ward has found success in the win column but has struggled with an .879 save percentage. The veteran finds himself following up a “goalie win,” quoted by Kane is his postgame interview last night, by Corey Crawford

Tampa Bay looks to their backup goaltender, Louis Domingue, to man the net. Domingue will see his second game action of the regular season. The 26-year old stopped 38 of 40 shots he faced against Carolina over two weeks ago.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game later tonight or early tomorrow on the-rink.com. 

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