Blackhawks and Wild wrap up their season series

Chicago Blackhawks (25-30-12, 62 pts) vs Minnesota Wild (39-18-12, 90 pts)
6:30 pm CT – Grand Casino Arena
TV: ESPN+ (Buccigross/Campell-Pascal)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild wrap up their four-game season series tonight, just two days after meeting at the United Center. One of these days, I won’t have to write about the Wild’s long point streak against the Blackhawks. After Tuesday's overtime win, they are 18-0-1 in the last 19 games between these two squads.

Speaking of streaks, Connor Bedard has done his best to earn the Blackhawks their first regulation win over Minnesota since 2019. He has a six-game winning streak against them. His two assists on Tuesday gave him two goals and eight points during his streak. He leads the team in the season series with five points in three games.

Even though he’s on the downside of his career, Vladimir Tarasenko continues to terrorize the Blackhawks. After scoring on Tuesday, he has 21 goals and 34 points in 38 career games against them. His countryman, Kirill Kaprizov, has seven goals and 18 points in 17 games. Neutralizing these two will go a long way towards success tonight.

Finishing the Job

Sure, the Stanley Cup Playoffs aren’t happening for the Blackhawks, but these last 15 games of the season are still important. The young players are going to get plenty of runway down the stretch to see exactly what they are capable of before we head into the summer. A victory against the Wild tonight would go a long way in gaining confidence.

All three games against them have gone into overtime, but they haven’t figured out how to get that last goal. Finally getting a win, hopefully in regulation, will be a big accomplishment. Head coach Jeff Blashill has talked about this group learning how to win and finish games all season long. Leaving St. Paul with two points will show that he’s not just blowing smoke, but this team is buying in.

The Blackhawks have played well this season against playoff teams. They took five or six points from the Stanley Cup-contending Dallas Stars. They swept the four-game series from the Utah Mammoth, who, barring a major collapse, will make the postseason. They’ve beaten teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, and Anaheim Ducks. Finally getting a win over the Wild will feel like slaying the dragon for this young group, who have never beaten them.   

Looking Into Future

With Matt Grzelcyk sitting out Tuesday’s game, we got a sneak peek at what is likely to be next season’s defensive corps. It’s a very young group with Alex Vlasic being the grizzled veteran at 24. After a shaky first period, they settled down and kept a talented Wild team to limited chances over the final 40 minutes.

“I thought the group had moments of good and moments of not good enough, and we just have to continue to kind of throw them to the fire and watch them grow,” Blashill said after Tuesday's game.

However, per the limited reports from today’s morning skate, it looks like Grzelcyk will be back in the lineup tonight with Ethan Del Mastro coming. We’ll have to wait for pregame warmups for the confirmation, as Blashill doesn’t like to give much away before games.

Boisvert Still Waiting

According to Scott Powers, Sacha Boisvert is still waiting for his work visa to come through. So, he will not make his NHL debut tonight. That could come tomorrow against the Colorado Avalanche or Sunday versus the Nashville Predators. Nothing like waiting on the federal government to start your NHL career.

Season Series

11/26 vs MIN, 3-4 L (OT)
1/27 @ MIN, 3-4 L (SO)
3/17 vs MIN, 3-4 L (OT)
3/19 @ MIN

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (28)
A-Connor Bedard (37)
P-Bedard (64)
PPG-Bertuzzi (11)
GWG-Bedard (4)
SOG-Bedard (178)
PIM-Louis Crevier (53)

Wild Team Leaders

G-Matt Boldy/Kirill Kaprizov (38)
A-Quinn Hughes (61)
P-Kaprizov (80)
PPG-Kaprizov (16)
GWG-Kaprizov (5)
SOG-Kaprizov (242)
PIM-Michael McCarron (75)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.61 (29th)
GA/G-3.16 (23rd)
PP%-19.2 (21st)
PK%-84.5 (1st)
SOG/G-24.4 (32nd)
SA/G-29.3 (23rd)
FO%-46.6 (31st)
PIM/G-9:20 (21st)

Wild Team Stats

GF/G-3.28 (10th)
GA/G-2.81 (6th)
PP%-25.1 (5th)
PK%-79.2 (16th)
SOG/G-29.1 (8th)
SA/G-29.9 (30th)
FO%-46.7 (30th)
PIM/G-7:23 (4th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Greene-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi-Frank Nazar-Teuvo Teravainen
Andrew Mangiapane-Ryan Donato-Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Lardis-Sam Lafferty-Landon Slaggert

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser-Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk -Louis Crevier

Scratched
D-Ethan Del Mastro

Injured
F-Oliver Moore (lower body)

Wild Probable Lines

Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov-Danila Yurov-Matt Boldy
Mats Zuccarello-Ryan Hartman-Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Johansson-Michael McCarron-Bobby Brink
Nick Foligno-Nico Sturm-Yakov Trenin

Defensemen
Quinn Hughes-Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin-Jared Spurgeon
Jacob Middleton-Zach Bogosian

Scratched

D-Jeff Petry, D-Daemon Hunt, F-Hunter Haight, F-Robby Fabbri

Injured
F-Marcus Foligno (lower body), F-Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body)

Goaltending Matchup

Arvid Soderblom (6-10-3, 3.70 GAA, .876 SV%, 1 SO) vs Jesper Wallstedt (14-7-6, 2.78 GAA, .912 SV%, 4 SO)