Blackhawks Game Day: 3 things to watch versus Mammoth

Chicago Blackhawks (0-2-1, 0 pts) vs Utah Mammoth (1-1-0 2 pts)
7:30 pm CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks are back at the United Center tonight as they host the Utah Mammoth for the first of four meetings this season. These two teams won’t see each other again until March, when they will play three times within 11 days. You’ve got to love the NHL schedule makers!

Tonight marks the first game of the season that isn’t somebody’s home opener. Head coach Jeff Blashill says his young team will need to bring the same energy they have to the first three games. Even if the intensity in the building isn’t quite the same, there should be no drop-off on the ice.

The Blackhawks won only one of the four meetings against the Mammoth last season. However, Connor Bedard had a goal and five points in the season series, including the game-winning overtime goal in their lone victory. Ryan Donato has a three-game point streak against Utah, with a goal and two assists.

Jason Dickinson Returns

We were pleasantly surprised to see Jason Dickinson on the ice this morning. He left Thursday’s game against the Boston Bruins with an upper-body injury and did not play in the home opener against the Montreal Canadiens. Both he and Blashill said they expect him to be in the lineup tonight.

“He felt way better,” Blashill said. “He’s going to be an important piece for us. We need some guys who can play good, solid minutes. While we’ve got to create chances, we need to limit the other team’s chances, and he’s a guy who can do that.”

Dickinson will likely be on the fourth line tonight, instead of the third line where he started the season. He’ll have Nick Foligno and Lukas Reichel on his wings. Sam Lafferty stayed on the ice after the morning skate concluded, which is a sign that he will be scratched.

More 5-on-5 Time is a Must

On Saturday, the Blackhawks took 14 penalties for 39 minutes and gave the Montreal Canadiens 10 power plays. The fact that the game was tied in the final minute of play was nothing short of a miracle. They lead the NHL with 62 penalty minutes, 19 more than the Los Angeles Kings, who have the second most.

“We’ve got to do it ourselves,” Blashill said. “We need to make sure we’re digging in here. I think we have grown our game. But we still give up chances due to unforced errors. Let’s make sure we clean those up and not leave anything to chance.”

Part of Blashill’s mindset is to be hard on pucks defensively. That is going to lead to more one-on-one battles, more contact, and more penalties. They need to learn how to control themselves better when engaging in these battles. That will come in time, and hopefully it starts tonight.

Play With A Lead

The Blackhawks have been very good at responding quickly after giving up a goal. They scored less than five minutes after allowing a goal twice against both Boston and Montreal. The bigger issue is that they have barely spent any time with a lead.

Through three games, the Blackhawks have led for only 7:51; 1:03 against the Panthers and 6:48 in Boston. I would love to see this young group get out to an early lead and learn how to maintain over the course of a game. Constantly chasing a lead or being tied can be exhausting. Utah has scored four goals in its two games, so if the Blackhawks can get them down, it might be hard for them to mount a comeback.

Season Series

10/13 vs UTA
3/1 @ UTA
3/9 vs UTA
3/12 @ UTA

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Connor Bedard (2)
A-Frank Nazar (3)
P-Nazar (5)
PPG-Bedard (1)
GWG-N/A
SOG-Ryan Donato (8)
PIM-Louis Crevier (17)

Mammoth Team Leaders

G-Dylan Guenther (2)
A-Nick Schmaltz (2)
P-Guenther (3)
PPG-Guenther (1)
GWG-Guenther (1)
SOG-Guenther (11)
PIM-Jack McBain/Sean Durzi/Ian Cole (4)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.33 (25th)
GA/G-3.33 (16th)
PP%-10.0 (27th)
PK%-76.5 (22nd)
SOG/G-21.7 (29th)
SA/G-32.7 (27th)
FO%-40.6 (30th)
PIM/G-20:40 (32nd)

Mammoth Team Stats

GF/G-2.00 (26th)
GA/G-2.00 (6th)
PP%-14. (21st)
PK%-88.9 (8th)
SOG/G-28.0 (17th)
SA/G-24.5 (6th)
FO%-35.7 (32nd)
PIM/G-11:00 (21st)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Colton Dach-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato-Ryan Greene-Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Foligno-Jason Dickinson-Lukas Reichel

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

Scratched
D-Artyom Levshunov, F-Sam Lafferty

Injured
G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), F-Joey Anderson (lower body), F-Landon Slaggert (lower body),

Mammoth Probable Lines

Forwards
Clayton Keller-Barrett Hayton-Nick Schmaltz
Dylan Guether-Logan Cooley-JJ Peterka
Logan Crouse-Jack McBain-Michael Carcone
Brandon Tanev-Kevin Stenlund-Kailer Yamamoto

Defensemen
Mikhail Sergachev-Olli Maatta
Nate Schmidt-John Marino
Ian Cole-Dmitri Simashev

Scratched
D-Nick DeSimone, F-Andrew Agozzino

Injured
D-Terrell Goldsmith (lower body), F-Alexander Kerfoot (lower body), Laim O’Brien (lower body), D-Sean Durzi (upper body), G-Jusso Valimaki (lower body), D-Anson Thornton (lower body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (0-2-0, 3.03 GAA, .908 SV%, 0 SO) vs Vitek Vanecek (first start of the season)