The Chicago Blackhawks gear up for another storm against the Tampa Bay Lightning

The Chicago Blackhawks continue their four-game homestand as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday.

Chicago is coming off of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Sebastian Aho scored the game-winning goal one minute into overtime. 

The Blackhawks held the lead twice in that game. Philipp Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi scored to make it 2-0 before Carolina responded with goals from Seth Jarvis (short-handed) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to tie it. Ryan Donato gave the Hawks the lead late in the second period, but Jordan Staal evened the score in the third after Petr Mrazek, former Carolina Hurricanes netminder, failed to cover the puck. Mrazek finished the game with 44 saves.

The loss dropped Chicago to 15-28-4 of the season.

This is the first of two meetings between Chicago and Tampa Bay this season.

The teams will face off again on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida, when the Blackhawks begin a three-game road trip.

Last season, the Blackhawks and Lightning split their two-game series, with Chicago finishing 1-1-0. This game also marks Tampa Bay’s first matchup against Chicago without longtime captain Steven Stamkos.

Team Notes...

• Tyler Bertuzzi leads Chicago with 17 goals, while Connor Bedard is first in assists (28) and points (41).

• Jason Dickinson did not participate in Wednesday’s practice due to illness.

• Chicago assigned defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to the Rockford IceHogs.

• Blackhawks recalled Ethan Del Mastro and signed AJ Spellacy to a three-year entry-level contract.

• Craig Smith, Patrick Maroon, Connor Murphy, and Laurent Brossoit remain sidelined with injuries.

The Other Squad...

The Tampa Bay Lightning are coming off back-to-back road losses. They lost 5-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday, Jan. 20 and blew a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

This will be another set of back-to-back games for Tampa Bay, which wraps its four-game road trip Saturday in Detroit against the Red Wings.

Brayden Point leads Tampa Bay with 27 goals, while Nikita Kucherov, who is currently on a ten-game point streak, leads the team in assists (48) and points (70). 

Keys to the Game:

1. Battling Another Storm: The Blackhawks showed resilience in its overtime loss to Carolina despite being outshot and outplayed. Chicago needs to bring that same energy against another top-tier team in Tampa Bay.

2. Not 2015 Anymore: This is not the 2015 Stanley Cup Final anymore, where the Blackhawks won their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history against the Tampa Bay Lightning team, taking the series 4-2. Since then, Tampa is 20-2-2 against Chicago, making it a tough competition for the Hawks.

3. Goaltending Duel: The Blackhawks' goaltending has been solid over the past three games, but their consistency has been an issues this season. Facing a Tampa Bay team with Andrei Vasilevskiy as their starter and Jonas Johansson as the backup, it's going to be a major test for Chicago's netminders.

How to Watch: The puck drops at 7 p.m. CST on CHSN and all other CHSN markets.