Blackhawks can learn a lot from playing the Hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks (28-36-14, 70 pts) vs Carolina Hurricanes (50-22-6, 106 pts)
7:30 pm CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks begin their final homestand of the season tonight. Their tough four-game homestand begins with the Carolina Hurricanes. They can sweep the two-game season series from the Eastern Conference’s top team after beating them in a shootout back in January.

The Hurricanes have clinched the Metropolitan Division, but are still playing for home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference. They have a two-point lead on the Buffalo Sabres, and a four-point cushion on the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens.

Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill wants to finish the season strong on home ice. He wants to show the hometown fans just how good this team can and will be before heading into the offseason. He feels there is a lot of value in playing a well-structured team like the Hurricanes. As he put it, a young team that tends to overcomplicate things and beat itself can learn a lot from seeing how Carolina handles business.

“They do a really good job of game management; they don’t beat themselves,” he said. “They’re simple in the sense that there is no trickery. They do what they do, and they do it really well. They believe in what they do, and they just do it over and over again.”

Burakovsky Returns

Sacha Boisvert’s United Center debut will have to wait for another night. He will be a healthy scratch for the second straight home game. Andre Burakovsky will be back in after sitting out Monday’s loss to the San Jose Sharks.

While nearly every observer wonders why Burakovsky keeps getting as many chances as he does, Blashill remains his biggest defender. He still feels that he’s producing chances despite not putting up any points.

“You can play the same game and create the same amount of chances, and in one stretch, they go in, and in one stretch, they don’t,” he said. “Whether it's him or linemates, it looks way different. It clouds people’s minds about how he’s playing. That’s why I like to take the human emotions out of it and look at scoring chances for and against. I think his game is better than his production.”

Blashill does have his criticisms of the veteran forward, like the rest of us. He knows his confidence is low, and that gets him into trouble.

“When he presses, he holds onto the puck too long,” he said. “I think there are times when he can move it quicker. My advice to him has been to know what you’re going to do with the puck before you get it. Let’s not hold onto it and take contact when you don’t need to. If there’s a play to be made, make it.”

Burakovsky has had success against the Hurricanes of late. In his last six games against them, he has a goal and five points. He did not register a point against them earlier in the season.

The Big 3-0 for Donato

Ryan Donato is celebrating his 30th birthday today. He is looking to build off his performance against the Sharks, where he scored the game’s opening goal one second after a power play expired. He has a goal and three points in the last two games against the Hurricanes at the United Center. In 11 games against them, he has five goals and eight points.

Donato’s goal in San Jose gave him 15 on the season. He needs one more to tie the second-best output of his career, set with the Seattle Kraken in 2021-22. Nobody expected another 31-goal season out of Donato. Even if he finishes with 15, that is still a decent season, considering he has rarely played with Connor Bedard this season, and his shooting percentage has dropped nearly 4%. He hasn’t been afforded nearly the number of offensive opportunities he was given last season, but he has still been productive.

Hurricanes Resting Players?

With the Hurricanes in town, the team recalled four players from the Chicago Wolves yesterday. Forwards Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau, and Josiah Slavin, as well as defenseman Charles Alexis Legault, all made the commute to the West Loop instead of Rosemont today.

While Carolina still has plenty to play for, this move makes you wonder if head coach Rod Brind’Amour is going to give some of his top players some rest heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate today, so we will have to wait until pregame warmups to see if there are any significant lineup changes. The lineup below is based on their last game.

Season Series

1/22 @ CAR, 4-3 W (SO)
4/9 vs CAR

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (32)
A-Connor Bedard (42)
P-Bedard (72)
PPG-Bertuzzi (11)
GWG-Bedard (5)
SOG-Bedard (217)
PIM-Louis Crevier (61)

Hurricanes Team Leaders

G-Seth Jarvis (32)
A-Sebastian Aho (53)
P-Aho (79)
PPG-Andrei Svechnikov (11)
GWG-Jarvis (7)
SOG-Jarvis (222)
PIM-Svechnikov (64)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.55 (32nd)
GA/G-3.22 (25th)
PP%-18.0 (24th)
PK%-83.9 (2nd)
SOG/G-24.6 (32nd)
SA/G-30.3 (31st)
FO%-45.9 (31st)
PIM/G-8:56 (19th)

Hurricanes Team Stats

GF/G-3.54 (4th)
GA/G-2.95 (9th)
PP%-24.7 (5th)
PK%-80.3 (12th)
SOG/G-32.6 (2nd)
SA/G-23.8 (1st)
FO%-47.6 (27th)
PIM/G-7:46 (6th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards

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

Defensemen

Alex Vlasic-San Rinzel
Wyatt Kaiser-Louis Crevier
Kevin Korchinski-Ethan Del Mastro

Scratched

F-Sam Lafferty, F-Dominic Toninato, F-Sacha Boisvert

Injured

F-Oliver Moore (lower body), D-Matt Grzelcyk (upper body), D-Artyom Levshunov (hand)

Hurricanes Probable Lines

Forwards

Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall-Logan Stankoven-Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers-Jordan Staal-Jordan Martinook
William Carrier-Mark Jankowski-Nicolas Deslauriers