Blackhawks look to rewrite script against Wild

Chicago Blackhawks (21-23-8, 50 pts) @ Minnesota Wild (29-14-10, 68 pts)
7 pm CT – Grand Casino Arena
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks are in the Twin Cities tonight for their second of four games against the Minnesota Wild. These two teams will conclude their season series with a pair of home-and-home games in March. The Wild won the first meeting in overtime. The Blackhawks got goals from Connor Bedard, Jason Dickinson, and Artyom Levshunov, the first of his career.

The Wild have dominated the Blackhawks of late. They have points in 17 straight games (16-0-1) dating back to Feb. 3, 2020. In the 11 games at the Grand Casino Arena since Feb. 10, 2018, they have gone 10-0-1. Maybe having the players’ moms in attendance can help break the bad mojo the Blackhawks have with their rivals from Minnesota.

Bedard has a four-game point streak against the Wild with two goals and four points, while Tyler Bertuzzi has assists in back-to-back games. Andre Burakovsky leads all Blackhawks with 18 points and 14 assists in 30 career games against the Wild. Tonight will be Spencer Knight’s second start against Minnesota. He allowed four goals on 24 shots back in November.

A New Nuclear Option?

Back in the Stanley Cup era, head coach Joel Quenneville had an ace up his sleeve when he wanted to ramp up his offensive attack. He pressed the button for the “nuclear option” of putting Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews on the same line. Head coach Jeff Blashill might be using his version of this tactic by putting Bedard and Frank Nazar together on his top line.

“Certainly they’re our two most dynamic forwards,” Blashill said yesterday. “What you hope when you put lines together is that the sum is greater than the parts, even. So, can they be exponentially better? We hope so. The one thing I got to do is give it some runway. I’ve changed too much here in the last three games or so, trying to find the right spark or the right kind of match. I have to try to stay with it here, just stay with it through the next three games and see how it goes.”

They will be joined on the line with Teuvo Teravainen, who is returning to action after missing the last seven games with an upper-body injury. Blashill added the veteran because of his passing ability and defensive responsibility.

“Just try to be myself, try to play good both ways,” Teravainen said about the opportunity. “They’re going to make a lot of things happen in the O-zone, so I've got to maybe be a little careful and responsible for them out there. Yeah, I’m excited, should be good.”

Demotion for Andre Burakovsky

With Teravainen back in the lineup, Andre Burakovsky was taken off the first line and the top power-play unit. He will be on the third line tonight with Ryan Greene and Oliver Moore and will join the second power-play unit.

The demotion isn’t only because the team is back to full health, but because of the veteran winger’s recent struggles. His lack of creating scoring chances and his poor puck management over the past few games have been concerning. Blashill is confident that Burakovsky can return to the level of play we saw in the first few weeks of the season.

“First of all, Burky cares a ton,” Blashill said. “He wants to be great. He’s one of those guys who, when things are going great, can overtry. And honestly, then it goes worse. There are two things we’ll chat with him about. One, he’s always going to be a guy who wants to make a play, and just balance when to make a play and when to live another day. You can’t be a guy who makes plays and never makes a mistake, but you’ve got to have that balance. And two, making sure that he’s not trying to get going so fast that he’s not putting pucks in the right spot.”

Power Play Adjustment

As we’ve talked about for the past few days, the Blackhawks’ power play is struggling. They have gone 0-for-17 over their past seven games. Blashill made some changes in hopes of sparking production. In addition to moving Burakovsky off the top unit and replacing him with Teravainen, he changed where Bedard will line up. He is back in the left faceoff circle where he started the season, instead of on the right side where he’s played recently.

“It’s gone a little stale,” Blashill said of the recent struggles on the man advantage. “I don’t think it’s created momentum either. So, we’ll get him over to that side. He’s been very good going downhill on his normal side, but I think he’s got the potential to be great on the other side, as well. So, let’s get him over there and give him a look, and see how the power play goes that way.”

Minnesota is a well-disciplined team, with the third-lowest penalty-minute average in the league. Despite being shorthanded only 135 times, their penalty kill ranks 27th in the NHL at 76.3%. It is even worse on home ice at 68.6%.  

Season Series

11/26 vs MIN, L 3-4 (OT)
1/27 @ MIN
3/17 vs MIN
3/19 @ MIN

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (25)
A-Connor Bedard (28)
P-Bedard (48)
PPG-Bertuzzi (9)
GWG-Bedard/Bertuzzi (3)
SOG-Bedard (128)
PIM-Colton Dach (45)

Wild Team Leaders

G-Matt Boldy/Kirill Kaprizov (28)
A-Quinn Hughes (44)
P-Kaprizv (64)
PPG-Kaprizov (11)
GWG-Marcus Johansson (4)
SOG-Kaprizov (190)
PIM-Jacob Middleton (55)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.65 (27th)
GA/G-3.08 (18th)
PP%-20. (16th)
PK%-85.5 (1st)
SOG/G-24.9 (31st)
SA/G-29.6 (25th)
FO%-47.1 (29th)
PIM/G-10:01 (25th)

Wild Team Stats

GF/G-3.17 (15th)
GA/G-2.85 (9th)
PP%-24.2 (7th)
PK%-76.3 (27th)
SOG/G-28.9 (10th)
SA/G-29.8 (29th)
FO%-46.5 (31st)
PIM/G-6:58 (3rd)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Frank Nazar-Connor Bedard-Teuvo Teravainen
Tyler Bertuzzi-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Ryan Greene-Oliver Moore-Andre Burakovsky
Ryan Donato-Nick Foligno-Landon Slaggert

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

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty, F-Colton Dach

Injured
None

Wild Probable Lines

Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johnansson-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno-Danila Yurov-Vladimir Tarasenko
Yakov Trenin-Nico Sturm-Vinnie Hinostroza

Defensemen
Quinn Hughes-Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Daemon Hunt-David Jiricek

Scratched
F-Tyler Pitlick, D-David Spacek

Injured
D-Zach Bogosian (lower body), D-Joans Brodin (lower body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (15-14-6, 2.58 GAA, .9111 SV%, 3 SO) vs Filip Gustavsson (17-9-6, 2.62 GAA, .909 SV%, 3 SO)