The Chicago Blackhawks have a date on the road with the best team (based on points) in the National Hockey League, the Colorado Avalanche. Following a tough loss to the Nashville Predators in the final moments on Thursday, they have this game as a chance to bounce back with an incredible opponent on the other side.
The Blackhawks have a lot of things that they are focusing on down the stretch, and being a postseason team is not one of them. Sure, they’d like it, but it’s just not realistic.
What is realistic is having a finish similar to last year, where everyone left feeling good. The loss to Nashville had its moments, but they have to find a way to close out a few of these close late games. The Avalanche are a step up in class over everybody, so finding a way to compete could go a long way toward confidence.
Scouting Colorado
The Colorado Avalanche had eight Olympians in Milan. No team’s players recorded more goals (18), assists (21), or points (39) in the entire tournament. They combined for 6 medals, headlined by the Gold Medal-winning Brock Nelson.
Colorado’s five best players, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, and Martin Necas, were also representing their respective countries, along with Artturi Lehhkonen, Joel Kiviranra, who played big roles in Finland winning Bronze.
MacKinnon, Makar, and Toews were on the Silver Medal-winning Canadian team, and they are not taking the loss well. They are motivated to have a strong finish and compete for the Stanley Cup when the playoffs roll around.
Landeskog – MacKinnon – Necas
Lehkonen – Nelson -Nichushkin
Colton -Drury – Olofsson
Kelly – Bardakov – Brindley
Toews – Makar
Manson -Burns
Kulak -Malinski
Blackwood
Wedgewood
Whether it’s Mackenzie Blackwood or Scott Wedgewood in net for Colorado, they play so well as a team that both guys are capable of winning.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks are going to keep their top line the same, but there are a handful of changes to lines 2-4 from their last game. Their defense pairs are staying the same.
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Moore-Nazar-Teravainen
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Donato-Foligno-Slaggert
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Murphy-Rinzel
Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar stay separated. That may be the permanent way again now that Bedard can take face-offs following his injury. If Nazar can get his game going to where it was before Christmas, the Blackhawks actually have to have solid top-six scoring.
Oliver Moore has admitted to being more comfortable at center, but he is projected to start this game on Nazar’s wing. The thing about those two is that you are getting two incredibly fast forwards on the same line. With Teuvo Teravainen as the third guy, plays are there to be made.
The Blackhawks have a back-to-back situation this weekend as they will head to play the Utah Mammoth on Sunday. One of the games will see Spencer Knight and the goal, and the other will feature Arvid Soderblom.
NOTE FROM WARMUPS: Spencer Knight will start vs the Avalanche. Kevin Korchinski will draw into the lineup, coming in for Sam Rinzel.
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Moore-Nazar-Teravainen
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Donato-Foligno-Dach
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Korchinski-Murphy
Knight
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it is available on CHSN locally. Nationally, it can be streamed on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 5:00 PM CT.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
Hockey News