Blackhawks Game Day: 3 things to watch versus Lightning

Chicago Blackhawks (3-2-2, 8 pts) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1-3-2, 4 pts)
5:45 pm CT – Benchmark International Arena
TV: ESPN+/HULU (Wischusen/Mleczko)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Granato)

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in action after three days off as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is the first of two meetings this season between the two clubs, with the rematch back at the United Center in January.

The Blackhawks are rolling into tonight’s game on a four-game point streak after beating the Anaheim Ducks in overtime on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Lightning have just one win in their first seven games of the season. I don’t think many people predicted the Blackhawks would have more points at the start of this game when the schedule came out.

Tonight will be a special night for head coach Jeff Blashill, who spent the previous three seasons with the Lightning as an assistant coach. His family still lives in the area, which explains why the team went down a day early.

“I had an unbelievable experience over my three years there,” Blashill said. “We didn’t win enough come playoff time, but that doesn’t downplay the experience I had. It’s a great city. I loved the group I worked with there, the coaching staff, the trainers, and the equipment staff. Those things are nice, but we’re going there to win a hockey game.”

Big Chance for Lukas Reichel

With Andre Burakovsky back in Chicago to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter, Lukas Reichel appears to be stepping into his spot on the top line. At least that’s where he’s skated the last two days. Nobody can say Blashill hasn’t given him a chance to make an impact.

However, since his three-point night against the St. Louis Blues, he had just one shot on goal in the games against the Vancouver Canucks and the Ducks. He was limited to nine shifts on Sunday. This has been Reichel's biggest problem over the past two-plus seasons. He’ll have a good game, then pull off his disappearing act for games at a time.

Reichel needs to bring the game we saw in St. Louis every night. Not the three points, but the mentality. He was aggressive, hunting pucks all night. He hasn’t figured out that constantly being active without the puck will lead to more time with it. He needs to give Blashill a reason to keep him in the lineup, or else it will be back to the press box for him, sooner rather than later.

Catching the Lightning at the Right Time

The old saying, “It’s not who you play, but when you play them,” couldn’t be more true tonight. The Blackhawks are catching the Lightning at the perfect time. The first seven games of the season have been a struggle. They currently have the fewest points in the Eastern Conference. The Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks are the only teams with fewer than Tampa’s four points right now.

It’s easy to see why the Lightning are at the bottom of the standings. They are 23rd in goals scored, 26th in goals against, 31st in shots on goal, 29th in shots allowed, and are the worst team in the NHL at winning faceoffs. You can’t eliminate yourself from the postseason in October, but they are certainly making life hard on themselves with the early hole they’ve put themselves into.

Tampa Bay will be getting some help tonight as Nikita Kucherov will return to the lineup. The former Hart Trophy winner has missed the last two games with an illness. He is three points shy of 1,000 in his career, so let’s save that milestone for another night.

Dominic James to Make NHL Debut

The Lightning recalled forward Dominic James yesterday, and he will make his NHL debut against the team that drafted him tonight. The Blackhawks selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and were interested in bringing him to the organization. However, he elected to become a free agent after his college career ended and signed with Tampa Bay this past September.

James admitted to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that the depth of the Blackhawks’ prospect pool was a factor in his decision.

“That’s got a lot to do with it,” he said. “Looking at my future and looking at the opportunity to jump right into the NHL... or to see a path for myself was huge. [Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois] made me feel confident in that.”

James earned his recall with three goals and five points in his first four professional games for the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League. He will center the Lightning’s fourth line tonight.

Season Series

10/23 @ TBL
1/23 vs TBL

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Ilya Mikheyev/Ryan Donato/Frank Nazar (3)
A-Teuvo Teravainen/Connor Bedard (5)
P-Bedard/Nazar (7)
PPG-Tyler Bertuzzi/Andre Burakovsky/Donato/Bedard (1)
GWG-Burakovsky/Nazar/Donato (1)
SOG-Bedard (19)
PIM-Louis Crevier (21)

Lightning Team Leaders

G-Anthony Cirelli (3)
A-Jake Guentzel/Victor Hedman (5)
P-Guentzel (6)
PPG-Kreider (3)
GWG-Cirelli/Brayden Point/Nikita Kucherov (1)
SOG-Guentzel (21)
PIM-Emil Lilleberg (15)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-3.14 (13th)
GA/G-2.43 (7th)
PP%-18.2 (21st)
PK%-81.8 (13th)
SOG/G-24.4 (29th)
SA/G-31.0 (28th)
FO%-47.8 (24th)
PIM/G-13:42 (32nd)

Lightning Team Stats

GF/G-2.67 (23rd)
GA/G-3.50 (26th)
PP%-25.0 (9th)
PK%-90.5 (4th)
SOG/G-23.3 (31st)
SA/G-31.3 (29th)
FO%-42.0 (32nd)
PIM/G-12:30 (30th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Lukas Reichel-Connor Bedard-Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teravainen-Frank Nazar-Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert-Ryan Donato-Colton Dach
Nick Foligno-Ryan Greene

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

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty, F-Andre Burakovsky (paternity leave)

Injured
G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), F-Jason Dickinson (upper body)

Lightning Probable Lines

Forwards
Jake Guentzel-Brayden Point-Gage Goncalves
Brandon Hagel-Anthony Cirello-Nikita Kucherov
Oliver Bjorkstrand-Yanni Gourde-Pontus Holmberg
Curtis Douglas-Dominc James-Mitchell Chaffee

Defensemen
Victor Hedman-JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh-Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg-Darren Raddysh

Scratched
F-Scott Sabourin (suspended), F-Jack Finely, D-Charle-Edouard D’Astous

Injured
D-Maxwell Crozier (undisclosed), F-Zemgus Girgensons (undisclosed), F-Niko Huuhtanen (undisclosed), F-Nick Paul (upper body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (2-2-1, 1.96 GAA, .937 SV%, 0 SO) vs Andrei Vasilevskiy (0-2-2, 3.50 GAA, .886 SV%, 0 SO)