Chicago Blackhawks-Philadelphia Flyers TV Listings, Predictions, More

The Chicago Blackhawks have been off since Sunday and will visit an opponent tonight that they saw less than two weeks ago in the Philadelphia Flyers

In the past, it seems like the Chicago Blackhawks have struggled coming off extended breaks. The results this year are split; after a three-day break in early October, the Blackhawks were stuffed 5-2 by the St. Louis Blues, while Chicago posted a 3-0 win over Philadelphia after a three-day rest in the end of October.

It’s a little bit of deja vu, then, that the Blackhawks will visit the Flyers tonight after another three-day respite. The Flyers, for their money, haven’t played much of late either. They’re on a four-day break and coming off a one-goal loss to Colorado.

So an opponent that has had nearly a week to stew on an overtime defeat and gets to host a squad it was shut out by last week? Corey Crawford better bring his crash pad.

Potential lineups

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are rolling with yet another mix-and-match group, as coach Joel Quenneville was not happy with just five goals across last week’s three games. It’s a little difficult to predict how these lines will work, but that third forward group could be a fun watch offensively.

Michal Kempny has been scratched on the blue line for … playing too well, apparently. In his steed, we get the underwhelming and previously injured Gustav Forsling, who slots in alongside the a bad-looking Brent Seabrook. No way that pairing gets lit up on the road.

Da Windy City

The assumption is Crow will start in net, and he very well should. One, he’s the hot hand. And two, Anton Forsberg should not be the test dummy for these new lines and pairings.

Philadelphia Flyers

Claude Giroux–Sean Couturier–Jakub Voracek

Travis Konecny–Valtteri Filppula–Wayne Simmonds

Jordan Weal–Jori Lehtera–Dale Weise

Taylor Leier–Scott Laughton–Michael Raffl

Ivan Provorov–Robert Hagg

Brandon Manning–Shayne Gostisbehere

Travis Sanheim–Mark Alt

Brian Elliott–Michal Neuvirth

This group put up 35 shots on Crow last time the team’s met, and that was at the United Center. So that isn’t a promising prospect, especially with the Blackhawks on Line Blender Part VI.

Couturier and Voracek are both at 18 points, while Giroux boasts 17. Gostisbehere seems to be out of his sophomore slump from last season, carrying 14 points from the back end. Simmonds is the other guy in double figures with 11, while Filppula was all over the place in these teams’ last game.

Philadelphia matches Chicago with 16 points in 15 games while having a positive goal differential (plus-4 versus plus-7). Philly hasn’t won at home since Oct. 21, and the Blackhawks haven’t won a regular-season game in the city since 1996.

Elliott may not be the cure for the Flyers with his .892/3.11 statline, but it’s no guarantee he starts. In fact, he hasn’t played since the team’s last game against Chicago, with Neuvirth being statistically superior (.928/2.17).

One downer for the Flyers is 2017 second-round pick Nolan Patrick being set to miss his seventh straight game with an apparent concussion.

Viewing information and prediction

Puck drop: 6 p.m.

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Live online: NBC Sports App

Live radio: WGN Radio Online

Prediction: The first period of this game should be sloppy, as both teams are coming off a layoff and the Blackhawks are experimenting with new lines. After that, it’ll come down to which team adjusts better.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’ll be the Blackhawks. I’m not sold on these lines being offensively productive, and I think the Forsling-Seabrook pairing will be problematic on the road.

Despite Crow’s best efforts, I’m saying the Blackhawks drop a 2-1 decision. I’ll say Nick Schmaltz tallies the lone goal for Chicago tonight as the third line has a brief bit of offensive magic, but the Blackhawks need to prove they can actually score before I predict them to win games like this.

Next: Blackhawks Seek Familiarity In Unfamiliar Times

If you can’t watch or listen to the game tonight, or just like to having a sounding board, follow along with Blackhawk Up (@blackhawk_up) on Twitter as we live-tweet the affair.