Blackhawks back on home ice, look to rebound against Rangers

Chicago Blackhawks (12-11-6, 30 pts) vs New York Rangers (15-12-4, 34 pts)
6:30 pm CT – United Center
TV: TNT (Burke/Hindy/Mason)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks are back at the United Center tonight, licking their wounds after a rough weekend getting outscored a combined 13-1 by the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. Tonight will be a fun matchup against the New York Rangers. They will also be wearing their Centennial jerseys, so we’ll get red and blue on the ice at the same time.

It will be interesting to watch tonight’s start. The Blackhawks let the last two games get away from them. At least in Los Angeles, they started with a solid first period. They were never in the game against the Ducks. Head coach Jeff Blashill knows that confidence can be regained as quickly as it can be lost.

“Confidence is a fickle thing,” he said. “You have to earn your confidence back. I’d be lying if I said, ‘Oh, we’ll go out there and play with this unreal swagger.’ We’re going to go out there and have a good first shift and then have a good second shift, and you earn your confidence back. Also, it was one game. Our guys have rebounded from this before. I think our guys’ confidence is totally fine, but I would also say you don’t want to let bad outings build on top of each other. So, let’s nip that in the bud. That doesn’t mean you’re going to win; that means you want to play great hockey.”

12 is the Magic Number

After Monday’s roster moves, Blashill only has six defensemen left on the roster. Whether he wants to or not, he’ll have to play 12 forwards against the Rangers. He admitted that having the more traditional lineup will make things easier for himself.

“It does make it a little easier to match lines, to roll out who you want to play against who,” he said. When you go 11 and seven, there are other factors in play, like who you want to double up, stuff like that. From a line-matching perspective, it makes it easier. I’ve done different things with the 11-7 in terms of who we doubled up, but sometimes it allows maybe a little more continuity within your line, or a guy’s not getting double-shifted.”

Get the First Goal

The Blackhawks would love a fast start tonight, for numerous reasons. They haven’t played with a lead since last Thursday’s game against the Kings. Getting out to an early lead will take a lot of pressure off this team and get the home crowd into the game. The faster they can get out of their funk, the better.

In their 14 home games this season, the Blackhawks have scored first 11 times. They have also only allowed four first-period goals on home ice. Both of those stats lead the NHL. The Rangers have been outscored 28-21 in the opening frame this season. First periods have not been an issue; it’s what they’ve done in the following frame.

Jekyll & Hyde

The Rangers have been a completely different team on the road than at Madison Square Garden. It’s uncanny how much better they are away from the Big Apple. They are 3-8-3 on home ice and have scored 24 goals, 11 of which were scored in two games. They are 12-4-1 on the road, with three straight wins. They have scored 58 of their 82 goals in away games. Everything changes for New York when they leave town. They have the league's worst home power-play at 10.0%, but have a 25.6 success rate on the road, the fourth-best in the NHL.

Season Series

12/10 vs NYR
3/27 @ NYR

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Connor Bedard (18)
A-Bedard (22)
P-Bedard (40)
PPG-Tyler Bertuzzi (8)
GWG-Bedard (3)
SOG-Bedard (98)
PIM-Colton Dach (34)

Rangers Team Leaders

G-Mike Zibanejad (11)
A-Artemi Panarin (22)
P-Panarin (32)
PPG-Zibanejad (6)
GWG-Zibanejad/Panarin (2)
SOG-Zibanejad (94)
PIM-Sam Carrick (24)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-3.07 (17th)
GA/G-2.97 (18th)
PP%-23.0 (9th)
PK%-83.3 (6th)
SOG/G-25.4 (27th)
SA/G-31.0 (29th)
FO%-46.9 (28th)
PIM/G-11:20 (29th)

Rangers Team Stats

GF/G-2.65 (28th)
GA/G-2.61 (6th)
PP%-18.8 (17th)
PK%-80.2 (21st)
SOG/G-26.4 (24th)
SA/G-28.9 (23rd)
FO%-53.6 (4th)
PIM/G-7:21 (5th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Greene-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi-Frank Nazar-Oliver Moore
Teuvo Teravainen-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach-Ryan Donato-Sam Lafferty

Defensemen
Matt Grzelcyk-Artyom Levshunov
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Connor Murphy

Scratched
F-Dominic Toninato

Injured
F-Nick Foligno (hand)

Rangers Probable Lines

Forwards
Artemi Panarin-Mika Zibanejad-Alexis Lafreniere
J.T. Miller-Vincent Trocheck-Conor Sheary
Will Cuylle-Noah Laba-Brett Berard
Jonny Brodzinski-Sam Carrick-Jaroslav Chmelar

Defensemen
Vladislav Gavrikov-Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy-Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson-Scott Morrow

Scratched
F-Taylor Raddysh, D-Urho Vaakanainen

Injured
F-Adam Edstrom (lower body), D-Adam Fox (upper body), F-Matt Rempe (upper body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (9-6-5, 2.62 GAA, .914 SV%, 1 SO) vs Igor Shesterkin (12-9-3, 2.46 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO)