Blackhawks Game Day: 3 things to watch versus the Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks (0-1-0, 0 pts) @ Boston Bruins (1-0-0, 2 pts)
6 pm CT – TD Garden
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Roumeilotis)

The Chicago Blackhawks are back at it tonight with a date in Beantown. They are looking for their first win of the new season after losing to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 last night. Tonight is their home opener, so expect a raucous crowd at TD Garden.

“We had some moments of good,” head coach Jeff Blashill said about the season-opening loss. “We have to mature as a hockey team to not allow so many big chances. A lot of those were preventable, but it takes time. It’s part of having a group that’s got to learn. It’s so hard to create chances that you can’t give easy ones up. It’s going to be a learning process throughout the year.”

With the Bruins playing last night, the Blackhawks will see goaltender Joonas Korplsalo. This will make Tyler Bertuzzi happy, as he has eight goals in 10 career games against Korplsalo. Arvid Soderblom will make his first start of the season. In two career starts versus Boston, he’s 1-1-0 with a .928 save percentage (SV%) and 2.01 goals-against average (GAA).

There are a lot of Boston connections on the Blackhawks tonight. Nick Foligno, Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Donato, and Matt Grzelcyk all played for the Bruins, while Ryan Greene and Alex Vlasic played at Boston University. Spencer Knight, who will be backing up Soderblom, played college hockey at Boston College. The Bruins have two former Blackhawks on their blue line in Nikita Zadorov and Henri Jokiharju.

Colton Dach Earns a Promotion

Blashill preached building chemistry and having patience with his lines throughout training camp. That lasted all of 40 minutes before he started tinkering with the lines in Florida. He’ll use a third combination on his top line tonight with Colton Dach sliding in alongside Conner Bedard and Andre Burakovsky.

“He had a really good camp and exhibition season,” Blashill said of Dach. “We haven’t force-fed him opportunity. He’s continued to demand more opportunity, and that’s the way you want it. He’s been physical. He’s a big power winger, but also has soft hands and can make plays. He’s somebody who can eventually find his way up the lineup and do a good job for us up there.”

There is no doubt that Blashill is a big fan of Dach. He’s not wrong either. Dach has been impressive since the start of training camp. My only hope is that Blashill doesn’t get into the habit of swapping out Bedard’s wingers daily like the last two head coaches.

Alex Vlasic Returns

The Blackhawks will have their defense at full strength tonight. Alex Vlasic will make his season debut after missing Tuesday's game in Florida. His return will get everyone on the back end slotted into their correct positions.

Nobody is happier to see Vlasic’s return than Sam Rinzel. The young defenseman struggled playing with Grzelcyk against the Panthers. He also played 25:18, while no other defenseman played over 18:33. Having Vlasic back by his side will help. Rinzel and Vlasic have built good chemistry together, so having that familiarity back will be a huge boost.

Need Better Shot Suppression

It wasn’t that the Blackhawks gave up 37 shots on goal to the Panthers last time out; it was the type of shots. They allowed 32 scoring chances and 14 high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5. This has been a problem for multiple seasons now. Blashill knows this, but he also knows it will take time to become a better defensive team.

Tonight is a good opportunity to improve. The Bruins are not an offensive juggernaut, but by any means. Even though they won 3-1 against the Capitals, they were severely outplayed at 5-on-5. They were outshot 22-17, outchanced 26-17, and only produced four high-danger scoring chances while allowing 12.

Season Series

10/9 @ BOS
1/17 vs BOS

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Frank Nazar/Teuvo Teravainen (1)
A-Tyler Bertuzzi (2)
P-Nazat/Teravainen/Bertuzzi (2)
PPG-N/A
GWG-N/A
SOG-5 players tied with 2
PIM-Nick Foligno (5)

Bruins Team Leaders

G-David Pastrnak/Morgan Geekie/Elias Lindholm (1)
A-Pastrnak (2)
P-Pastrnak (3)
PPG-Lindholm (1)
GWG-Lindholm (1)
SOG-Lindholm/Michael Eyssimont/Sean Kuraly (3)
PIM-5 tied with 2

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.00 (10th)
GA/G-3.00 (6th)
PP%-0% (8th)
PK%-50% (10th)
SOG/G-19.0 (13th)
SA/G-37.0 (13th)
FO%-41.4 (12th)
PIM/G-9:00 (8th)

Bruins Team Stats

GF/G-3.00 (4th)
GA/G-1.00 (2nd)
PP%-50% (1st)
PK%-80.7(10th)
SOG/G-21.0 (12th)
SA/G-36.0 (12th)
FO%-50.0 (6th)
PIM/G-10:00 (9th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

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

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

Scratched
F-Lukas Reichel, D-Louis Crevier, D-Ethan Del Mastro

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

Bruins Probable Lines

Forwards
Morgan Geekie-Elias Lindholm-David Pastrnak
Pavel Zacha-Casey Mittelstadt-Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner Jeannot-Fraser Minten-Michael Eyssimont
Marat Khusnutdinov-Sean Kuraly-Mark Kastelic

Defensemen
Mason Lohrei-Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm-Andrew Peeke
Nikita Zadorov-Henri Jokiharju

Scratched
F-John Beecher, F-Jeffery Truchon-Viel, D-Jordan Harris

Injured
None

Goaltending Matchup

Arvid Soderblom (1st start of the season) vs Joonas Korpisalo (1st start of the season)