Seattle Head Coach Dave Hakstol gave the start in goal to Chris Driedger with back-to-back games against the Canucks and New York Islanders.

Driedger barely had time to scrape up his crease before the Canucks took a 1–0 lead on a goal from Tyler Motte. The Kraken came back three minutes later and tied the game on a goal by Seattle’s leading goal scorer (and former Canuck) Jared McCann. Not only was McCann facing the team that drafted him, but he was also playing in his 400th NHL game.

in his 400th game – playing against the team that drafted him – and canner finds the back of the net.

we’re here for this. pic.twitter.com/yVQihGLKpd

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) February 22, 2022

Seattle wrapped up a successful first period with a shorthanded goal by captain Mark Giordano with 5:34 remaining. The Kraken were outshot 15–9, though, but Driedger found his footing.

If the first period was classified as a success, the second could certainly be labeled a failure. Vancouver outshot the Kraken 18–4 and added goals by Travis Hamonic and Vasily Podkolzin to give the home team a 3–2 lead heading into the second intermission.

The third period did not fare much better for the Kraken, as Vancouver forward Bo Horvat scored a power play goal 35 seconds into the period and Tanner Pearson scored an empty-net goal with just over 1:30 remaining in regulation. The Kraken did manage to attempt a comeback by outshooting Vancouver 14–13, but it was far too little and far too late once again for the expansion team.

Anchor points

Driedger played good enough (41 saves) to keep the Kraken in the game, but when four goals against is a “good game,” there is a lot going wrong in other areas. He mentioned in his postgame media availability that he would have liked the fourth goal back, but even without that goal, the Kraken still lose the game.

Penalty kills were good and power plays were bad. That is a quick assessment of what happened out on that ice regarding special teams. The teams were a combined 1-for-8 with the man advantage and Seattle scored one of their goals while shorthanded.

Giordano, McCann, Vince Dunn, Jordan Eberle and Morgan Geekie were the only players that were not under water 5-on-5. The line of Ryan Donato, Joonas Donskoi and Alexander Wennberg were just crushed all night, giving up 12 shots while generating only one. On the other hand, the line of Eberle, Geekie and McCann played only 1:40 together, but had a remarkable 8–0 Corsi advantage.

As one might expect from a 5–2 loss where you are outshot 46–27, the possession heavily favored Vancouver.

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 58%–42%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 65%–35%
5-on-5 High-danger chances for 69%–31%
5-on-5 Expected goals for 72%–28%
Face-off percentage 52%–48%

Seattle will host the New York Islanders tonight at Climate Pledge Arena. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Kraken lose in Vancouver, end Canadian road trip 0–3 appeared first on The Rink.

As far as the COVID-19 protocol went for this game, Vancouver was without forward Brock Boeser, while Seattle was without defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.

From the drop of the puck, Seattle did not seem to have the steam behind them to take out the visiting Canucks. They managed only six shots on goal in the opening frame against Vancouver netminder Thatcher Demko while surrendering 14 shots. Young emerging forwards Vasily Podkolzin and Nils Hoglander gave Vancouver a comfortable 2–0 lead, which had the Canucks sitting pretty heading into the first intermission.

Seattle cut the lead to just one goal in the second period, as Calle Jarnkrok scored on a seeing-eye shot from downtown. This resulted in the only goal of the period, as the Kraken held the Canucks to only eight shots on Philipp Grubauer while sending nine shots the way of Demko. A one-goal game heading into the third period of a division game seemed promising, but Seattle watched their hopes slip away.

Tyler Motte gave Vancouver all the goals they would need just under five minutes into the third period, while Conor Garland and Tanner Pearson (empty-net goal) added a couple of insurance goals to pad the lead. Seattle did not get held scoreless in the final 20 minutes, though. Defenseman William Borgen made up for an earlier gaffe on Podkolzin’s goal by scoring his first of the season and of his career.

borgy lights the lamp for the first time! pic.twitter.com/ejboyuEY7y

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 2, 2022

Sadly, that was all the excitement the team could provide for their home fans. When the final horn sounded, the Canucks were 5–2 winners despite being outshot 26–21 in the second and third periods.

Anchor points

Grubauer did not get much help from his teammates, at all. The Podkolzin, Motte and Garland goals were all egregious turnovers by his defenders. You cannot really place this loss on the goaltender.

There were just four total power plays in this game, and Vancouver had the only power play goal.

This turned out to be the tale of the top six vs. the bottom six. The lines of Jordan Eberle, Morgan Geekie and Jared McCann and Ryan Donato, Joonas Donskoi and Alex Wennberg were comfortably over the 50% mark in possession, but the Jarnkrok, Colin Blackwell and Yanni Gourde and Marcus Johansson, Max McCormick and Riley Sheahan lines were both under 35% 5-on-5.

With only one high danger chance all night at full strength, you are fighting an uphill battle.

Digging a little deeper into the possession metrics, Vancouver limited the Kraken to almost entirely perimeter shots

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 54%–46%
5-on-5 Fenwick (unblocked shot attempts) 51%–49%
5-on-5 High-danger chances For 89%–11%
5-on-5 Expected goals for 64%–36%
Face-off percentage 51%–49%

The Kraken will be off until Thursday, when they are supposed to face the Ottawa Senators. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST. Tuesday’s scheduled game against the New York Islanders and Saturday’s scheduled game against the Winnipeg Jets have been postponed until a later date.  

Take some time out of your day to watch this segment about a Seattle Kraken fan who helped save the life of the Canucks’ equipment manager. It is a really nice feel-good story for the new year.

On 10/23 #SeaKraken fan Nadia Popovici urgently banged on the glass to alert @Canucks Asst. Equipment Manager Brian Hamilton of an abnormal mole that turned out to be life-threatening.

Today, they reunited for the first time since she saved his life → https://t.co/ueSuAwoz6s pic.twitter.com/zd8d8Rn7PU

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 2, 2022

The post RECAP: Canucks extend Kraken losing streak to five appeared first on The Rink.

Vancouver was without several of their big names in their lineup. Brock Boeser, Travis Hamonic, Quinn Hughes, Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and Brandon Sutter all sat this game out.

Despite the 15–8 shot totals in favor of Vancouver and the several goal posts that were hit, neither team was able to break the scoreless tie in the first period. The Canucks were unsuccessful on their lone power play opportunities, while the Kraken were 0–2 on the power play in the frame, including a double-minor high sticking call just a minute and a half into the contest.

The second period became the Vince Dunn show, as the defenseman scored two goals less than three minutes apart, giving the Kraken all the scoring they would need. Dunn’s first goal was on the power play, with Jack Rathbone in the penalty box, on a one-time feed from Calle Jarnkrok, which beat Thatcher Demko high to the glove side.

Just a few minutes later, Dunn swerved in behind a weaving Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz, who fed the trailing defenseman with a nice pass and a solid look at the net. Dunn snapped another shot past Demko, giving the visitors a 2–0 lead. Later in the period, Ryan Donato cleaned up a Jarnkrok rebound on the power play to give the Kraken a 3–0 heading into the second intermission.

Nathan Bastian put the exclamation point on the game late in the third period with a last-minute goal to send the Kraken home to Seattle with another huge win, this time 4–0, against their rivals over the border.

Anchor points

Philipp Grubauer was completely dialed in. There was no wasted effort in his performance, and he was in perfect position for just about every shot he faced. If this team is going to be a contender, Grubauer will need to continue to be one of their best players night in and night out.

Speaking of best players, Vince Dunn will be counted on heavily by head coach Dave Hakstol. If this is any indication of how he will be running the power play, the Kraken will be dangerous. With three goals in the preseason, Dunn looks like he will be in a race with McCann for the biggest breakout player on the team.

It would have been easy to brush off the Ryan Donato signing, but he has become another very useful player for Hakstol. He is not the type of player to “wow” you with highlight-reel plays, but he will go to the dirty areas and come out with the puck more often than not. His goal was nothing pretty, but it all looks the same on the scoresheet and will be crucial for the Kraken power play. He made the most of his 14:54 of ice time, getting five shots on net, four hits and the aforementioned power play tally.

One area where Seattle dominated was the face-off dots. Kraken centers won 59% of their draws.

The Kraken are off for the next week while they transition to regular-season mode. They faceoff Tuesday, Oct. 12, for the season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken wrap up preseason with 4–0 shutout over Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

Thousands of fans streaming into Rogers Arena three hours before puck-drop. The Sedins ceremony starts at 6 local and is going to last about an hour (!). One the one hand, cool. On the other, fans are going to be out of gas by the time the game actually starts.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 13, 2020

With the Vancouver fans all pumped up for the ceremony, the Blackhawks needed to have a fast start. They did just that as the Hawks recorded the first 13 shots of the game. From the onset Chicago dictated the game and puck possession.

It was not until 14 minutes in to the first period when the Blackhawks thought they scored the first goal of the game. With Patrick Kane flying down the near side of the rink, a quick shot on net slipped past Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom. Brandon Saad was crashing the net and ending up behind Markstrom, the goal was called off because of goalie interference. Head coach Jeremy Colliton ended up challenging the play but after review the referees kept the call on the ice no goal. With the failed challenge the visitors were assessed a delay of game penalty. Vancouver took advantage of the penalty and scored a very nice looking goal by Bo Horvat. The play was set up nicely with great passing from J.T. Miller and Brandon Sutter.

Bo knows how to finish a beauty passing play. pic.twitter.com/fRhAZhWuAa

— NHL (@NHL) February 13, 2020

After the first period the Blackhawks led in shots 17-7. Clearly outplaying the Canucks but with nothing to show for it.

In the second period the Blackhawks had two power play chances but came up empty on both of them.

Just six and a half minutes in, Vancouver struck again on another nice passing play with a goal by Adam Gaudette.

After 40: #Canucks lead 2-0. Shots: 33-15 Blackhawks. pic.twitter.com/tgpp0REewf

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) February 13, 2020

The game started to get chippy as well in the second period. Kirby Dach put a huge hit on Antoine Roussel that left Roussel down on the ice for a bit. The period also featured the first of two fights in the game as Drake Caggiula and Tanner Pearson dropped the gloves about halfway through the period. It was a bit surprising to see Caggiula engage in the scrap considering his concussion issues earlier this season.

About one minute after the scrap, Corey Crawford came up huge with a big save on a breakaway by Elias Pettersson to hold the Vancouver lead to only 2-0.

After the second period the Blackhawks were still up huge in the shot column 33-15, which was the first time all season that the Hawks had more than 30 shots after two periods.

First time this season the #Blackhawks have had 30+ shots through first two periods per @ckamka.

— Scott King (@ScottKingMedia) February 13, 2020

To begin the third period, the visitors were a man short as Zack Smith was injured near the end of the second period. Smith did not return to the game.

MEDICAL UPDATE: Zack Smith (left hand) will not return to tonight’s game. #CHIvsVAN

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 13, 2020

Needing a huge period to win the game, Chicago came out strong again controlling the puck possession. This was just not enough as they could not find the back of the net in the third period as well.

Connor Murphy and Gaudette got in a scrap that led to a slashing call on Gaudette to give the Hawks a power play chance early. Once again the power play for the Blackhawks was very weak, creating very few chances in the game. They ended up being 0-5 on the power play in this game.

With three minutes left in the game, the Hawks pulled Crawford from the net for an extra skater and Brandon Sutter ended up scoring an empty net goal to ice the Canucks the 3-0 victory.

Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom was the story of the night as he stopped all 49 shots that the Hawks sent his way.

Jacob Markstrom became the first goaltender in @Canucks history to register multiple 40-save shutouts in a single season. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/Eckua0kIX4

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 13, 2020

That’s a 49-save @pepsi shutout for Jacob Markstrom (@j_markstrom).

You heard right… 49 SAVES! pic.twitter.com/hzQpAfFHPi

— NHL (@NHL) February 13, 2020

The Hawks have now lost five straight games. They now have two days off before playing the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

The post Along the boards: Slide hits five in a row as Markstrom blanks Blackhawks 3-0 appeared first on The Rink.

#Blackhawks rolling the same lines from Tuesday in a different province and a different year:
Kubalik – Toews – Quenneville
DeBrincat – Dach – Strome
Sikura – Carpenter – Kane
Smith – Kampf – Highmore

Keith – Boqvist
Gustafsson – Murphy
Maatta – Gilbert

Lehner in net.#CHIvsVAN

— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) January 3, 2020

The Vancouver Canucks would be the Blackhawks’ first opponent in 2020. Their greeting for the Blackhawks might be called “rude” by some people’s standards.

#Canucks get another power-play goal, this one J.T. Miller’s and continue to look exceptionally dangerous – with both units generating a ton of looks – with the man advantage.

— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) January 3, 2020

Despite allowing the early goal, The Blackhawks peppered Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom with shots. After dominating most of the period, Chicago got its first goal from an unlikely scorer.

Connor Murphy scores #Blackhawks first goal of 2020 and extends his point streak to three games. pic.twitter.com/GJlxUYYbC1

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 3, 2020

I like Connor Murphy getting involved in the offense. Doing much more this year and looks really good doing it. #Blackhawks

— Ron Luce (@rnldluce) January 3, 2020

Late in the first period, Blackhawks’ rising star Kirby Dach nearly gave Chicago the lead—missing by inches—when the Canucks were saved by the post.  At the end of the first period, the Hawks and Canucks were tied 1-1 in a very fast-paced game.

The second period began with Chicago coming out red-hot, getting lots of pucks on net. Despite the electrifying start by the Blackhawks offense, the defense allowed the Canucks to take the lead once again.

Canucks regain the lead with a goal from Tanner Pearson. Great tip in the slot from him. 2-1 VAN.

— Spencer (@spencerloane) January 3, 2020

The Vancouver lead would not last long however, as the Blackhawks responded quickly.

Kampf ties the game as his shot finds its way through the screen in front of Markstrom. #Canucks #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/RjVadpiRuF

— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) January 3, 2020

Chicago kept the heat on the home team—Patrick Kane continued his goal scoring streak and gave the Blackhawks a 3–2 lead.

Power-play goal. Patrick Kane scores his 23rd goal of the season to make it 3-2 #Blackhawks. pic.twitter.com/LTWYhTREuW

— Brandon (@brandonmcain) January 3, 2020

The Blackhawks onslaught continued, with the team seeming to find offensive chemistry that had been sporadic at best in 2019. Jonathan Toews’ turn would be next:

We like this kinda party!

The Captain keeps the lamp lit in Vancouver pic.twitter.com/EPMj50XuIk

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) January 3, 2020

While the offense was clicking, the defense, ironically and predictably, reverted to form, leading to the rapid evaporation of the Blackhawks’ two-goal lead.

Vancouver gets one back. Quinn Hughes on the PP. #Blackhawks @NHLBlackhawks #CHIvsVAN #VANvsCHI #Canucks

— The Rink — Where Hockey happens (@TheRinkOfficial) January 3, 2020

In a period where playing defense was clearly optional, the Canucks once again tied the game.

Brock Boeser sets it up for Elias Pettersson who ties it 4-4 for the #Canucks pic.twitter.com/64RRWhsWLA

— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) January 3, 2020

After two insane periods, the third period did not disappoint. The Canucks took a lead 5-4 midway through the third period, when Dennis Gilbert kicked the puck into his own net. Chicago goalie Robin Lehner was openly frustrated by the goal, breaking his stick on the crossbar. Adding injury to insult, Robin Lehner took a beating in the net— with two shots hitting his exposed neck during the game.

Dennis Gilbert is not having a great start to 2020#Blackhawks #CHIvsVAN pic.twitter.com/S3CMRAim1z

— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) January 3, 2020

After Gilbert’s gaffe gave the Canucks the lead back, the Blackhawks continued their roller coaster ride of a game. Kane continued to shine, especially in the third period, netting his second goal of the game.

Patrick Kane reminding everyone that he is, in fact, still a top 10 player at age 31. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/yXJ0peECBR

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 3, 2020 

Shortly after Kane scored the game-tying goal, Lehner was bulled over by Tanner Pearson and went down holding his knee. Blackhawks trainer Mike Gapski gave Lehner the all clear and the third period resumed.  The night of physical and emotional pain would continue for Lehner as he soon allowed the sixth Canucks goal of the night.

SCORES!!!!!! OH MY GAUDETTE!!!!!! 6-5 #CANUCKS!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/LJhgfaG4oH

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 3, 2020

The Canucks would later net an empty net goal to make the final score 7–5.

Along the boards

Kane Remains hot

Patrick Kane continues to get better with age. He netted two goals in the game and was a dominating offensive presence on the ice. People are going to start running out of superlatives before too long.

Tonight was the th time in the regular season that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews scored in the same game pic.twitter.com/HGJnsblepT

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) January 3, 2020

Lehner beat up in the loss

In addition to allowing six goals for the first time in his Blackhawks career, Lehner took two pucks off the neck/collar area during the contest, may have torqued his knee a bit, and one would expect that after making his fourth start in a row, he might get the next game off, giving Corey Crawford start against the Red Wings Sunday.

Robin Lehner is in pain. That’s a collar bone shot. THOSE HURT!!!! @RobinLehner #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/jHmR0Pfegr

— Puckin’ Hostile (@PuckinHostile) January 3, 2020

So #crawford will get a start in the next game. Lehner is getting beat up.

— Sean Fitzgerald (@Diesal3426) January 3, 2020

WHAT DO YOU THINK? COMMENT BELOW. 

The Blackhawks return to action on Sunday for a late afternoon matchup with the Detroit Red Wings at home. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CST. 

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks lose a crazy game to the Canucks 7-5. appeared first on The Rink.

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

Probable starters

Chicago — Corey Crawford (1–4–1, .892 save percentage, 3.74 goals against average)
Vancouver — Jacob Markstrom (5–2–3, .918 save percentage, 2.45 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (11.9%, 28th)
Vancouver (21.9%, 11th)

Penalty kill
Chicago (80.4%, 19th)
Vancouver (88.7%, Third)

Shots for/against
Chicago (30.1, 22nd; 35.6, 30th)
Vancouver (34.0, Seventh; 30.3, 23rd)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (7.8%)
Vancouver (10.2%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (49.2%, 19th)
Vancouver (54.5%, Second)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 196 pounds
Vancouver — 6-foot-1, 199 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

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

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Erik Gustafsson

Vancouver Canucks

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Adam Gaudette
J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson —  Brock Boeser
Josh Leivo — Brandon Sutter — Jake Virtanen
Tim Schaller — Jay Beagle — Loui Eriksson

Alexander Edler — Tyler Myers
Quinn Hughes — Chris Tanev
Jordie Benn — Troy Stecher

Analysis

In the Blackhawks’ last contest, against the San Jose Sharks, the team showed all the hallmarks of the Jeremy Colliton era. The team played poorly on defense and did not produce enough offense to defeat an inferior opponent. It has been one year since Colliton took over the Blackhawks and the team has regressed in almost every category. In an offseason filled with genuine optimism, the regular season has produced nothing but angst toward Colliton and General Manager Stan Bowman.

In the loss to the Sharks, Chicago’s confidence seemed to erode. However, there were a few glimmers of hope. Robin Lehner continues to be the one ray of light during these dark times. Lehner notched his 100th career victory against the Sharks and is fourth Swedish goaltender to reach the 100-win milestone. Another positive was the Blackhawks’ penalty kill, which killed off three penalties against San Jose. Since Oct. 29, Blackhawks have killed off 16 of 17 penalties, good for 93.8% during that span.

In returning to the United Center, the Blackhawks look to improve upon their 1–4–1 home record. Their next opponent figures to pose a huge challenge in the resurgent Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have been a very good road team, going 5–3–1 on the road this season. Coming off their overtime loss to St. Louis, they look to get back to their winning ways in their second of back-to-back games and it is the first time all season Vancouver has played road games on consecutive nights. If the Blackhawks hope to stop the Canucks they need to slow down Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat. Pettersson has 14 points in his last seven games, while Horvat has 11 points in his last seven games.

Despite Lehner playing well of late in the Chicago crease, Colliton is opting for Corey Crawford between the pipes tonight against Vancouver. Also of note is Colliton’s decision to make Dominik Kubalik a healthy scratch for the first time in his career and inserting Zack Smith in Kubalik’s place.

Can the Blackhawks play up to the level of the red-hot Canucks or will this be a similar effort to the one we saw in San Jose?

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game by Mario Tirabassi right here on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

The Chicago Steel kept up with their opponents chasing them for second place in the Eastern Conference beating the Waterloo Black Hawks 3–1. Steel goaltender Reilly Herbst stopped 36 shots to lead Chicago in Waterloo, Iowa.

The evenly matched game remained tied at 0–0 halfway through the second period. Herbst and Waterloo goaltender Jared Moe both made a few spectacular saves early on in the game. Moe, a Winnipeg Jets sixth-round draft pick in 2018, would be the first to break when forward Josiah Slavin beat Black Hawks defenseman Hank Sorensen to the outside and slipped a shot five-hole for the 1–0 Chicago lead.

Ok Josiah Slavin, we get it, you've got skillz. @chicagosteel #WhosNext pic.twitter.com/QWkdGUnlY2

— USHL (@USHL) April 6, 2019

The first goal, at the 16:36 mark of the second period, would be followed up less than a minute later when forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine buried his 20^th goal of the season. The goal, assisted by forward Adam Robbins, extended the Chicago lead to 2–0 as both teams went into the second intermission.

Defenseman Owen Power opened up the scoring in the third period, on the power play, beating Moe for his 10th goal of the season. Assisted by forward Mathieu De St. Phalle and Robbins, extended the Steel lead to 3–0.

Waterloo forward Ryan Drkulec beat Herbst at the 8:07 mark of the third period to cut the Steel lead to 3–1, but that would be the only goal for Waterloo. With the victory, Chicago extended their lead over Cedar Rapids and Youngstown to three points heading into their Saturday night matchup with the Dubuque Fighting Saints.

Dubuque 5, Chicago 0

On Saturday, Dubuque Fighting Saints goaltender Matthew Thiessen stopped a team record 44 saves in shutting out the Steel 5–0 in Dubuque, Iowa. The Vancouver Canucks draft pick stood on his head all night, stopping 31 shots through two period before whitewashing the Steel on 13 shots in the third period.

Fighting Saints forward Matias Maccelli, a potential 2019 NHL draft prospect, scored twice to reach the 30 goal mark this season. Dubuque also received goals from defenseman Chris Lipe, forward Bram Scheerer and forward Dylan Jackson.

Chicago returns to home ice on Friday, April 12 for Fan Appreciation Night for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop. The Steel then finish up the regular season in Muskegon, April 13, for a 7:15 p.m. start. Chicago clings to a one-point lead for the second-place spot in the Eastern Conference, which comes with a first-round bye.

Click here to see the Eastern Conference Playoff Race information.

The post The Steel Deal: Chicago splits weekend, big weekend ahead in playoff race appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks had Corey Crawford in net, following a brilliant 48 save performance in Montreal.  Thatcher Demko was in goal for Vancouver, making his sixth career start.  John Hayden, Carl Dahlstrom and the injured Drake Caggiula were scratches for the Blackhawks

This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Dylan Sikura
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Brendan Perlini
Dominik Kahun – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Chris Kunitz – David Kampf– Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling – Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek – Connor Murphy

Period One
Once the puck finally dropped, the action raced up and down the ice with little defense played, but the goalies were both off to strong starts.

The Blackhawks drew a penalty five minutes into the game, but they were not able to capitalize. This was the 17th straight powerplay without scoring, which makes the five game winning streak that much more remarkable.

The play teetered back and forth until the final minute of the first period, when Brandon Saad drew a penalty while on a partial break-a-way. Jonathan Toews redirected a Patrick Kane shot-pass from high in the slot that eluded Thatcher Demko and dribbled into the net for a 1-0 Blackhawks lead. The assist was Kane’s 100th point of this career season.

Sneaky!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/B9vhTev5Y3

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 19, 2019

The Canucks out shot the Blackhawks by one, 11-10, in the opening period

Period Two
Just a minute into the second period, and just four seconds into a power play, the Canucks converted to tie the game following a lost faceoff deep in the Blackhawks zone. Alexander Edler walked the blue line and beat the Blackhawks goalie cleanly.

Certainly a long goal that Corey Crawford would have liked back.

At the 13:38 mark, the Canucks and Marcus Granlund took a 2-1 lead when Brock Boeser cut through the slot and took a shot through traffic on Corey Crawford. Crawford kicked the rebound right to the waiting Granlund, and the Canucks had their first lead of the night.

As a result, the Blackhawks managed only four shots for the entire period, while the Canucks had eight.

Period Three
The Blackhawks started the third period much more even than the second, but five minutes into the third the Canucks just missed a prime scoring chance when Blackhawks defenseman Gustav Forsling tied up Loui Eriksson enough to force him to just nudge the puck to a prone Corey Crawford, rather than put it into a wide open net.

Five minutes later, Crawford stoned Eriksson once again, after a puck squirted to Crawford’s left and the Canucks wing found himself all alone. Crawford was able to get his left leg and glove in the way and snuff out the chance.

Crawford keeping the #Blackhawks in this one midway through the 3rd period!

Don’t miss the rest: https://t.co/LYv3wLYmPC pic.twitter.com/ceYoy2Srpj

— BlackhaWWWWWks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 19, 2019

With five minutes left in regulation, the Blackhawks got a prime opportunity on the power play to ties the game when Slater Koakkoek drew a bad Canucks penalty. Unfortunately, the home team could not muster up much pressure and the Canucks emerged unscathed.

With just over three minutes remaining, the Blackhawks used a faceoff play to tie the game. Jonathan Toews won the faceoff, Patrick Kane passed back to Duncan Keith, who fed Erik Gustafsson for a one timer. Demko was distracted by his own defender and just whiffed on the shot. All the same, the puck dropped and rolled into the net.

WE. ARE. EVEN!

Gus ties it up late in the 3rd!

Don’t miss the end of this one: https://t.co/LYv3wLYmPC pic.twitter.com/wRWg1AL8pP

— BlackhaWWWWWks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 19, 2019

That would end up all the scoring in regulation for the two team, and the game rumbled to overtime with the Blackhawks out shooting the Canuck 17-11 in the third period.

Overtime

Just sixteen seconds into the extra time, Bo Horvat and company easily waltzed through the Blackhawks defense and beat Corey Crawford five-hole for the game winner, but the Blackhawks got their loser point.

.@BoHorvat wins it in OT! pic.twitter.com/6tpXr69dbC

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) March 19, 2019

Pluses

• Corey Crawford was great in net, again.  This is just another example of the Blackhawks needing inhuman efforts to keep in contention for wild card.  They are going to fall short, because 8-2 in their final 10 games will prove to be unachievable.
• Patrick Kane got his 100th and 101st points of the season.  If he was just having an average Kane year, the team would have never even been able to mention wild card spots.
• I will admit that these Blackhawks games have been fun to watch but more in a “car wreck you can’t look away from” realm.  It’s chaos and uncertainty but I can understand why one would buy tickets to see them.  We could see 2-1 game or a 8-7 game, and both would be completely plausible.

Minuses

• The Blackhawks effort for most of the first two periods was lackluster.  Playing half games (and sometimes only one period) competitively just shows that they are a team that is running out of gas.  The numbers support that they are thriving on luck and unreasonably good individual efforts.  They are the 1990 Houston Oilers trying to sustain with the run-n-shoot offense gimmick.  It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
• The Blackhawks were 46% at the faceoff dots and lost two faceoffs that led directly to goals.  The Alex Edler goal and the overtime loser were both as a result of not getting possession directly from a faceoff.  Totally over-rated, though.
• Dylan Sikura had four shots on net…but only one of them came after the first period.  #CrunchTime

The post RECAP: Canucks Beat The Blackhawks 3-2 in OT appeared first on The Rink.

7:30pm CST

United Center

TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (12–15–2, SV%: .907, GAA: 3.07)

Vancouver – Thatcher Demko (1–2–0, SV%: .895, GAA: 3.21)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play

Chicago (20.7%, 12th)

Vancouver (14.9%, 29th)

Penalty Kill

Chicago (73.5%, 31st)

Vancouver (81.0%, 14th)

Shorts for/against

Chicago (32.4, 13th; 35.1, 30th)

Vancouver (29.6, 25th; 31.5, 16th)

Shooting %

Chicago (10.4%, 7th)

Vancouver (9.0%, 21st)

Faceoff %

Chicago (49.4%, 20th)

Vancouver (49.2%, T21st)

Avg. height/weight

Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs

Vancouver 6’1” 195lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dylan Sikura

Dominik Kahun–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Vancouver Canucks

Loui Eriksson–Bo Horvat–Nikolay Goldobin

Josh Leivo–Elias Pettersson–Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson–Adam Gaudette–Jake Virtanen

Tim Schaller–Markus Granlund–Tyler Motte

Alexander Edler–Alex Biega

Ashton Sautner–Chris Tanev

Guillaume Brisebois–Troy Stecher

Analysis

Corey Crawford carried the Blackhawks to victory in Montreal on Saturday night. The Montreal-native continued his streak of dominance against the team he grew up rooting for. Now, Crawford may have to put on his red cape once again as the Blackhawks welcome another Canadian foe to the United Center when the Canucks pay a visit.

This game is certainly a trap game for the playoff hopeful Blackhawks. With the Coyotes, Wild and Stars all playing well, the Blackhawks cannot afford to lose a game down the stretch, especially to a team such as Vancouver. The Canucks have nothing to lose, as they are almost all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. It’s teams like these that will derail any potential playoff berth for the Blackhawks.

The line to watch right now is the Strome line. Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat and Brendan Perlini have given this team true balance throughout the lineup. Now that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have been split up, the Blackhawks have three lines that can contribute meaningful scoring.

The Vancouver Canucks are setting themselves up for a high draft pick in this summer’s draft. Once playoff hopefuls, the Canucks fell apart as the season started winding down. The Canucks currently sit third-from-last in the Western Conference with 70 points. It’s safe to say they will not be playing in late April with their current record.

The true bright spot for the Canucks all year has been Elias Pettersson. The sensational rookie has been nothing short of spectacular for the Canucks, as he leads the Canucks in both goals and assists with 27 and 33, respectively. The Blackhawks need to watch out for the young sensation and cannot afford to take the foot off the gas on Monday night, otherwise the Blackhawks playoff hopes could quickly fade.

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 Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

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

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Collin Delia (5–2–3, SV%: .922, GAA: 2.99)
Vancouver – Jacob Markstrom (20–15–5, SV%: .910, GAA: 2.78)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (21.2%, 12th)
Vancouver (16.7%, 22nd)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.4%, 31st)
Vancouver (79.4%, 19th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.4, 17th; 34.9, 30th)
Vancouver (29.1, 26th; 31.0, T14th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.1%, 11th)
Vancouver (9.8%, 13th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.7%, 17th)
Vancouver (48.9%, 20th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Vancouver 6’1” 198lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Brendan Perlini–Artem Anisimov–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Erik Gustafsson

Vancouver Canucks

Nikolay Goldobin–Bo Horvat–Brock Boeser

Antoine Roussel–Elias Pettersson–Josh Leivo

Markus Granlund–Brandon Sutter–Jake Virtanen

Loui Eriksson–Jay Beagle–Tyler Motte

Chris Tanev–Erik Gudbranson

Ben Hutton–Troy Stecher

Derrick Pouliot–Alex Biega

Analysis

Five-straight wins suddenly have Blackhawks fans, and likely players, smelling a possible playoff berth. The Blackhawks currently sit 3 points out of a playoff position as they take on the “last team in” Thursday night, the Vancouver Canucks.

Patrick Kane once again dazzled on Tuesday in Edmonton. Although he and Connor McDavid are both still tied for second in league scoring, Kane scored his 32nd goal of the season and added an assist, where McDavid registered two assists. He is now only five goals behind the league leader, Alex Ovechkin, and is in striking distance for a run at the Rocket Richard Trophy and has broken the tie for second place.

The Canucks sit in the final Wild Card spot with 54 points and have lost 3 of their last 4 games. The Blackhawks are presented with a great opportunity to continue to claw for a playoff spot… if that’s what the front office thinks is best for this team long term.

The Canucks’ point leader, Elias Pettersson, is arguably this year’s Calder Trophy winner as top rookie. He has 24 goals and 23 assists despite missing time with injury. Pettersson is a game-breaking talent and is this year’s version of Mathew Barzal in the way he burst onto the NHL scene. If the Blackhawks hope to make it six-straight victories, they will need to find a way to nullify the high-flying rookie.

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 Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

First Period

Luke Johnson had a good look for the Blackhawks 1:50 into the game from the right circle but it was sucked up easily by Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Shortly thereafter the Blackhawks headed to the power play as the result of a Antoine Roussel high-sticking penalty. It was more of the same for the Blackhawks power play unit as they registered 0 shots on goal during the two minutes.

After some back and forth play for a few minutes Saad was able to split two Canucks defenders with his speed and power one through Markstrom to make it 1-0 Blackhawks. He was assisted by Kunitz and Anisimov.

Just nine seconds later Brent Seabrook was called for interference. After an early scoring chance the Blackhawks were able to kill the penalty. As both teams returned to full strength there wasn’t any notable action until the Hayden-Kruger-Kampf line had a great shift which saw a few shots, significant time in the offensive zone but not a goal.

An errant pass by Nick Schmaltz led to an unassisted breakaway goal for Jake Virtanen at 15:33 in the period to make it a 1-1 game. With a couple minutes left in the first Kunitz made his second nice pass of the night to Anisimov whose backhand was stopped by Markstrom to keep the game tied at 1.

The Blackhawks headed to the power play with :34 left but recorded no shots on goal before the period ended.

Second Period

As the Blackhawks began the second on the power play- Toews was able to capitalize and put the team up 2-1 with a wicked wrist-shot. It was career goal number 299 for The Captain and moved him into sixth all-time for the Blackhawks moving past Dennis Hull. He was assisted by Johnson and Erik Gustafsson but it should be noted that Saad did a great job of screening the goalie.

Seabrook took his second penalty of the game at the 11:39 mark as he tripped Bo Horvat who was starting to take the edge on him heading to the goal. While on the penalty kill Saad was able to breakaway but hit the crossbar on his snapshot. It looked like he put the rebound in for a goal but it was deemed he put it in with a kicking motion. That was the correct call and the Blackhawks went on to kill the penalty.

Virtanen scored his second goal of the night to tie the game at 2 with 7:36 left in the second. He beat Crawford high blocker side with a snipe after Brandon Davidson hesitated slightly to give him a clear shooting lane. 

The remainder of the period went on with both teams having some lower percentage chances but ultimately no goals.

Third Period

Saad opened the period with another great power move to the net but couldn’t finish with the backhand. Shortly after Gustafsson was called for hooking in the defensive zone. The Canucks controlled the play for the next two minutes with a few good chances but the Blackhawks were still able to kill the penalty.

In what looked like an incidental play Brandon Manning collided with Troy Strecher and looked to hit him in the head. There was no penalty called but Strecher did leave the game.

With 10:37 left in the game Brendan Gaunce put the Canucks up 3-2 with their first lead of the game. In an unfortunate play of events Toews won a board battle and tried to pass it to John Hayden who had no stick because he gave his to Henri Jokiharju who lost his. Toews’ pass was right on the tape of Gaunce who beat Crawford high glove side.

The Canucks went up 4-2 with 3:27 left in the game when a Roussel pass was tipped by Manning into his own goal. A minute later the Blackhawks pulled Crawford for the empty net but were unable to capitalize as the game ended 4-2.

Positives

• Saad looked like the man-child again. 1G 5 SOG
• Kunitz had a few nice passes and one that led to a goal.

 Areas For Improvement

• Nick Schmaltz is still looking lost and a bad pass of his led to a breakaway goal.
• DeBrincat was almost invisible in this game.
• Scoring is still only coming from top two lines.

Please comment below and follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and hockey musings.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Fall To Canucks 4-2 appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks (6-3-3) at Vancouver Canucks (7-6-0)

9:00pm Central, 7:00pm Pacific

Rogers Arena

TV/Radio: NHLN-US, SN360, WGN/WGN

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

Corey Crawford (3-2-0, .919 SV%, 2.44 GAA)

Vancouver:

Jacob Markstrom (4-3-0, .909 SV%, 3.09 GAA)

Team statistics:

Power Play

Chicago (12.2%, T-30th)

Vancouver (18.9%, 18th)

 Penalty Kill

Chicago (75.7%, 21st)

Vancouver (84.6%, 8th)

Shots for/against per game

Chicago (34.3, 5th – 33.7, 23rd)

Vancouver (26.1, 29th – 32.9, T-21st)

Shooting%

Chicago (10.0%, 14th)

Vancouver (10.3%, T-11th)

Faceoff%

Chicago (49.3%, 18th)

Vancouver (48.2%, 26th)

Avg. height/weight

Chicago

6’1” 195lbs

Vancouver

6’1” 199lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun

Saad-Anisimov-Kane

Fortin-Johnson-Schmaltz

Kunitz-Kampf-Hayden

Keith-Jokiharju

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Manning-Davidson

Vancouver

Goldobin-Pettersson-Boeser

Schaller-Horvat-Granlund

Roussel-Sutter-Virtanen

Motte-Gaudette-Eriksson

Hutton-Gudbranson

Pouliot-Stecher

Del Zotto-Biega

Analysis:

The Chicago Blackhawks begin a three game Canadian road trip, tonight, in Vancouver against the Canucks.

Corey Crawford looks to bounce back from his poor performance against St. Louis this past Saturday. Crawford surrendered six goals on 36 shots. Clearly his worst performance of the season.

Not participating on the top four lines in practice these past few days was Marcus Kruger. The fourth line penalty killer has seen himself penalized 14 minutes this season.

Joel Quenneville stated he likes Kruger’s “relentlessness of trying to pursue pucks” and his “five-on-five play” but “we need him killing penalties and we need him on the ice.”

Goaltender Jacob Markstrom is expected in net tonight for Vancouver.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game later from Marc-Louis Paprzyca on the-rink.com. 

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

The Blackhawks sent center Tanner Kero to Vancouver for another center, Michael Chaput (sha-POO).  Chaput, a 6’2″ 204 lbs center from Quebec, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers (3rd round, 89th overall) in the 2010 entry draft.  He was traded to Columbus in 2011 and then signed by Vancouver as a free agent in 2016.  He played a career high 68 NHL games in 2016-17, collecting nine points (4G, 5A).

Last season, Chaput played most of the year in Utica, with the Canucks AHL affiliate, putting up an impressive 42 points (17G, 25A, 59 PIM).  In a very limited time with the NHL club, the 26 year old had no points in nine games.

Tanner Kero was signed as a college free agent out of Michigan Tech in 2015, after a successful season where he was a Hobey Baker finalist. He spent most of his career in Rockford but was able to stick with the NHL club for 47 games in 2016-17. More recently, this past season, Kero was passed over on the depth chart by David Kampf and his time in the Blackhawks organization seemed to have passed.

The post Blackhawks Acquire Chaput for Kero appeared first on The Rink.

These were the starting lines:
Patrick Sharp– Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad – Vinnie Hinostroza – Matthew Highmore
Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Alex DeBrincat
John Hayden – David Kampf – Andreas Martinsen

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

In net, JF Berube’s number was up—while all Hawk fans could do was hope the number of goals allowed was, ummm, down.

First period.

The newly cobbled line of Brandon Saad, Vince Hinostroza and Matthew Highmore had a couple of really strong shifts about 5-7 minutes into the action, peppering Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom with shots—but to no avail.

At 12:49 of the first, Vancouver defenseman Alex Edler pinched into the slot and fired a puck past Berube. 1-0 Canucks.

On literally the next shift, Patrick Kane laid a nice drop pass right on Brent Seabrook’s tape as he pinched in on the right side and launched a bomb that was deflected by Nick Schmaltz and past Markstrom. 1-1.

The Hawks went down a goal after losing a defensive zone faceoff, which led to a point shot that Berube allowed to rebound right on to the blade of a waiting Henrik Sedin. 2-1 Vancouver at 2:17. And that was how the period would end.

Second period.

At 17:28, Hawk forward Andreas Martinsen won a short fight against Benoit Pouliot, after absolutely launching another Vancouver player into the boards. Apparently, Martinsen pretty much starts every period on a mission to destroy somebody. The Hawks ended the ensuing power play by nearly giving up a goal on a 2-1 created by some bonehead puck handling by Duncan Keith.

After a Schmaltz scoring chance, and with the Hawks caught off guard, Vancouver center Bo Horvat had a breakaway chance, beating Berube five-hole at 13:01. But NBC Sports color man Ed Olczyk was quick to remind the viewers that Berube had made a couple of saves on the previous power play. So that was “ok.” 3-1.

Less than three minutes later, Edler notched his second goal of the night on a 60 foot shot, with no screen. Berube was put out of his misery, which likely had the same effect on several thousand fans in attendance, Anton Forsberg in. 4-1.

From about the 6:00 point on, the pace ramped up and both teams traded chances. The Hawks had a couple of grade A chances, especially on one shift by the Kane-Schmaltz line, but could not finish.

Third period.

With the Canucks holding a 4-1 lead, and the Blackhawks being one of the worst teams in the league at comebacks, the third period was a mere formality.

Just over three minutes into the final period Forsberg took his first lump on the noggin.

The Blackhawks were caught deep in their own end and were not able to get the puck out of their zone.  Michael Del Zotto threw a long point shot at the net that went off the leg of Brandon Sutter and into the net past a bewildered Forsberg. 5-1.

A couple of minutes later, Vinnie Hinostroza had a wide open net, after a feed from Brandon Saad, but the puck somehow went off a prone Jake Virtanen and harmlessly into the netting above the glass.

At Pat and Eddie’s favorite point in the period, tree-turdy-tree, Matthew Highmore redirected a precision Brandon Saad pass from the half boards past Jacob Markstrom for a virtually meaningless goal, for anyone but Highmore. 5-2.

That was it for the Blackhawks as they dropped 36th game of the season while, again, outshooting an opponent by a considerable margin.

Pluses

• Before we get to the Hockey, Eddie Olczyk announced between the first and second period that he has been diagnosed as cancer free.  Wonderful news for Edzo and his family.
• Andreas Martinsen might not be the next great NHL power forward, but he brings something to the table that the Blackhawks have been lacking, especially since Ryan Hartman was traded. In each of his two games, he has made a big (clean) physical play which has kept the opponents looking over their shoulders when he was on the ice.
• Brandon Saad has not been scoring but he has been playing setup man, and doing it pretty well. On the surface, the casual meatballs will cry for DA GOALZ, but Saad has had underlying value.  Keep an eye out for a big bounce-back season next year.
• Nick Schmaltz took advantage of his first game as the Blackhawks number one center by scoring his 21st goal of the season. He has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal 2017-18 season.

Minuses

• The goalies are just simply awful, at this point. Their confidence is as durable as paper mache and this season cannot end fast enough for Jimmy Waite.  Maybe the Corey Crawford haters will finally realize how spoiled they have been.  The again, maybe not.
• The Blackhawks were 0-4 on the power play and out shot their opponent 41-27. This was a winnable game. Unfortunately the Blackhawks are just a bad team.

The post Chicago Blackhawks vs Vancouver Canucks Game Recap appeared first on The Rink.

7:30PM Central
RADIO: WGN 720
TV: NBCSCH, SNP

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
J-F Berube (2-4-1, 3.70 GAA, .897 Save%)

Vancouver:
Jacob Markstrom (18-26-6, 2.80 GAA, .909 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:
Sharp-Schmaltz-Kane
Jurco-Anisimov-DeBrincat
Saad-Hinostroza-Highmore
Hayden-Kampf-Martinsen

Keith-Rutta
Gustafsson-Seabrook
Oesterle-Murphy

Vancouver:
Leipsic-Horvat-Goldobin
Sedin-Sedin-Boucher
Archibald-Sutter-Gagner
Jokinen-Down-Virtanen

Edler-Tanev
Del Zotto-Stecher
Pouliot-Biega

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:
Chicago 16.1% (28^th)
Vancouver 21.8% (T-8^th)

Penalty Kill:
Chicago 79.3% (20^th)
Vancouver 77.7% (T-22^nd)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):
Chicago 52.80% (4^th)
Vancouver 47.89% (25^th)

Faceoffs:
Chicago 49.8% (17^th)
Vancouver 49.5% (20^th)

SUMMARY:

Tuesday night’s embarrassing 5-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche was the loss that sealed the Blackhawks fate. They have officially been eliminated from the playoffs, and this painful season will end after its final eight games.

Following the loss at the United Center Tuesday, some of the players and coaches had some interesting comments.

Connor Murphy on missing the playoffs, “It sucks, and it’s kind of embrassing.”

Joel Quenneville on finishing the season, “It’s got a lot of meaning on the other side, so let’s play the right way and try to have fun.”

Patrick Kane on missing the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season, “Obviously one of those streaks you want to keep going. We had a disappointing second half of the season, to say the least.”

And my favorite quote after Tuesday night also came from Kane, who commented on what the Blackhawks have to play for in the remaining eight games. “We’re playing in the NHL, we’re playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, we’re playing in front of 21,000 fans every night. That’s enough motivation right there.”

As purely a fan, I hope the Blackhawks live up to what Kane said. Play hard, play loose, and show you want to take the ice every shift. I am not sure what will happen after this season, but these players should be playing for their careers after the season they have produced through 74 games.

The first of their four remaining home games, “in front of 21,000 fans,” is tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. The rivalry is pretty much extinct, but this is a team the Blackhawks should take care of on their home ice.

EDIT – It was announced after the morning skate that Jonathan Toews would “miss a few games” with and upper body injury sustained against the Blues.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

Follow: @CoachMajewski

The post Chicago Blackhawks vs Vancouver Canucks Preview & Game Thread appeared first on The Rink.