Blackhawks need to simplify the attack to beat the Maple Leafs

Chicago Blackhawks (13-13-6, 32 pts) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (14-12-5, 33 pts)
6 pm CT – Scotiabank Arena
TV: CHSN (Ball/Konroyd)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Roumeliotis)

The Chicago Blackhawks start their three-game road trip through eastern Canada against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They can go for the season series sweep after beating the Maple Leafs at the United Center a month ago. However, these two teams will look a lot different this time around. The Blackhawks will not have top scorer Connor Bedard, while Toronto will have Auston Matthews, who missed the first meeting.

The Maple Leafs have only one more point than the Blackhawks this season, despite hearing for the umpteenth year in a row that “this is their year.” Some people actually thought replacing Mitch Marner with three bottom-six forwards was a good idea.

The Blackhawks have enjoyed traveling to Toronto of late. They are 9-5-1 in their last 15 trips, and have earned points in 24 of their last 30 overall games against the Maple Leafs.

Life Without Bedard

The Blackhawks will be without their young superstar for at least the rest of 2025. However, as Bedard himself told 32 Thoughts today, the injury does not sound as serious as initially feared. While it’s nice to have a positive update, the reality is that the Blackhawks still have to find a way to produce offense in his absence.

“Obviously, it sucks losing a guy as great as him,” Frank Nazar said. “He’s played very good, very consistent hockey, and did a lot for our team. Somebody needs to step up and make those plays.”

Nazar is one of the players who has to do his part in picking up the slack. We all know he hasn’t scored since October. He’s creating chances, but he has to start putting the puck in the net. It isn’t solely on him to fill the void, but it begins with him.

“It’s going to be on everyone to step up and do their part,” said Jason Dickinson. “It’s obviously a huge hole to fill. It’s not going to be on any one person; it’s going to be on everybody as a whole unit to step up and get wins.”

The Blackhawks have experience beating the Maple Leafs as a team. Bedard did not have a point in the Nov. 15 win. Ryan Greene, Teuvo Teravainen, and Colton Dach scored the goals in the 3-2 victory. More of that, please.

Big Shooter

Head coach Jeff Blashill has wanted his team to have a shoot-first mentality long before losing Bedard. This team needs to have the mindset that there is no such thing as a bad shot. The addition of Nick Lardis should help with that, as he has never met a shot he didn’t like.

“Nick’s obviously got a weapon as a shot, he knows he has a weapon as a shot, and he uses it,” Blashill said. “I think there are times, some guys make their bread and butter making plays or passing it, but I just think when you’re in a scoring position, if you’re going to pass out of that scoring position, it better be a better scoring chance. So, I just think it’s something that, as a group, we still have to get better at. But Nick brings that to the table, and we’re trying to put Nick in roles that he can succeed in, and we’ll see. It’s still a big ask. It’s hard to be that age in this league and a consistently really good player, but that doesn’t mean he can’t if over the next couple of games he can prove that he can.”

Lardis had eight shot attempts during his NHL debut on Sunday. He grew up in Oakville, ON, about 20 miles outside Toronto. You can bet he’ll have a bunch of family and friends in attendance and will be jacked up for the game. Look for him to shoot early and often.

Attack the Net

The Maple Leafs continue to play subpar defense. This isn’t anything new for them. They are 23rd in goals against, giving up 3.26 goals per game, and 31st in shots allowed per game with 31.1. The goals are there, but you have to shoot.

Joseph Woll will be in the net for the Maple Leafs tonight. It will be his first start since Dec. 4 and only his ninth of the season. He started the season by taking a month-long leave of absence five days into training camp. Then he missed the last four games with a lower-body injury. He has yet to get himself into a rhythm this season, and the Blackhawks must take advantage of that.

We need to see a different approach tonight than what we saw over the weekend. The Blackhawks played on the perimeter too much and never made life difficult for the opposing netminder. There were very few second and third opportunities. The offense needs to take a simple approach. Stop looking for the perfect shot with the extra pass. They need to play between the dots and in front of the net. They need to look for rebounds and take Woll’s eyes away from him. Otherwise, he will stop every shot he can see.

Season Series

11/15 vs TOR, W 3-2
12/16 @ TOR

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Connor Bedard (19)
A-Bedard (25)
P-Bedard (44)
PPG-Tyler Bertuzzi (8)
GWG-Bedard (3)
SOG-Bedard (103)
PIM-Colton Dach (43)

Maple Leafs Team Leaders

G-John Tavares/Auston Matthews (13)
A-William Nylander (23)
P-Nylander (34)
PPG-Nylander/Matthews/Tavares/Matthew Knies (2)
GWG-Matthews/Nylander/Bobby McMann (2)
SOG-Matthews (101)
PIM-McMann (30)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.84 (24th)
GA/G-3.00 (15th)
PP%-21.5 (10th)
PK%-84.4 (4th)
SOG/G-25.6 (26th)
SA/G-30.3 (28th)
FO%-46.6 (29th)
PIM/G-11:05 (29th)

Maple Leafs Team Stats

GF/G-3.29 (6th)
GA/G-3.26 (23rd)
PP%-14.3 (30th)
PK%-82.6 (10th)
SOG/G-27.1 (21st)
SA/G-31.5 (31st)
FO%-56.9 (1st)
PIM/G-8:19 (13th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi-Frank Nazar-Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Lardis-Ryan Greene-Oliver Moore
Colton Dach-Dominic Toninato-Ryan Donato

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Matt Grzelcyk
Ethan Del Mastro-Connor Murphy

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty, D-Artyom Levshunov

Injured
F-Nick Foligno (hand), F-Connor Bedard (upper body)

Maple Leafs Probable Lines

Forwards
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-William Nylander
Nicolas Robertson-John Tavares-Bobby McMann
Dakota Joshua-Nicolas Roy-Max Domi
Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Easton Cowan

Defensemen
Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe-Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit-Henry Thrun

Scratched
F-Calle Jarnkrok, D-Philippe Myers

Injured
D-Branon Carlo (foot), Matias Macelli (Illness), D-Dakota Mermis (lower body), D-Marshall Rifai (wrist), G-Anthony Stolarz (upper body), D-Chris Tanev (upper body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (10-7-5, 2.52 GAA, .915 SV%, 2 SO) vs Joseph Woll (4-3-1, 2.44 GAA, .928 SV%, 0 SO)