Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Considerations for Game 4

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Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Make sure any lineup changes have purpose. This isn’t a space to further the Scott Darling–Corey Crawford debate. It’s gotten beyond silly at this point (go on any social media outlet during Game 4 and the silliness should be readily available). No, we’re talking about forwards and defensemen here. Pretty much everyone besides Michal Rozsival, Quenneville and Rozsival’s immediate family has boarded the “bench Michal Rozsival” train, but it’s clear that train is stuck in its station. We did see Teuvo Teravainen and Joakim Nordstrom sit in favor of Antoine Vermette and Andrew Desjardins in Game 3, and the latter came through with a goal. It may have been a surprise to see Desjardins playing, but he made the most of his opportunity and actually played well. The fourth line created havoc throughout the game and probably shouldn’t be messed with at this point. Seeing Teravainen replace Versteeg would likely be beneficial, but it probably won’t happen. It also sounds like Vermette is going to stick around for Game 4.

So what are we talking about here? Daniel Carcillo. If your stomach didn’t drop through the floor upon hearing Quenneville’s latest comments regarding Carcillo, you may want to see a doctor. Anything Carcillo brings to the table (it’s arguable he brings anything at all) is trumped and expanded upon by any other Blackhawk. So the fact we could see Carcillo slot in while Teravainen and Nordstrom sit is … disturbing. It’s all merely speculation, but Quenneville needs to make sure any substitutions from here on out actually have merit and aren’t just “let’s see what he brings to the table” displays. We all know what Carcillo brings to the table.

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