Full-strength Blackhawks hope to slow down red-hot Connor McDavid & Oilers

Chicago Blackhawks (19-19-7, 45 pts) vs Edmonton Oilers (22-16-7, 51 pts)
7:30 pm CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks are back on home ice and will host the Edmonton Oilers, who make their only appearance at the United Center tonight. This is the second of three regular-season games between the two clubs. The Oilers beat the Blackhawks in overtime on home ice back in November and will host the season finale in April.

The Blackhawks have earned points in three of their last four games against the Oilers. They are 10-6-3 against them in the last 19 home games. Ryan Donato has goals in back-to-back home games against the Oilers. Andre Buraskovsky, who had a goal and an assist in the first meeting, is on a three-game point streak against the Oilers, with three goals and five points. In 20 career games, he has seven goals and 17 points. By playing tonight, Nick Foligno will pass Brian Rolston and Craig Ludwig for 13th all-time in games played with 1,257.

Spencer Knight, who recently became the ninth-youngest U.S.-born goaltender to win 60 games, will get the start tonight. He has been very good on home ice this season, going 8-5-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average (GAA) and .909 save percentage (SV%). He’s still looking for his first career win against Edmonton. In three career starts, he is 0-1-2 with 3.30 GAA and .901 SV%.

Back to Full Strength

The stomach bug that took down quite a few players over the weekend has seemed to run its course, as everyone was accounted for at today’s morning skate. Louis Crevier will return to the lineup after missing the last two games. Both Knight and Arvid Soderblom will be back in the pads, as well.

“I think, certainly, knock on wood, nobody else seemed to come down with the sickness deal,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “That part’s nice, for sure, and for the most part, outside of Frankie (Nazar), we’re fairly healthy, so that’s a positive thing.”

Trying to slow down the Oilers’ offense is no easy task, so having all hands on deck will definitely help in that department.

Staying Disciplined

For the most part, this season, the Blackhawks have done a pretty good job of staying out of the penalty box. Their penalty average per game is skewed from the home opener, where they racked up 39 penalty minutes against the Montreal Canadiens, and the Nov. 18 game against the Calgary Flames, when all five players on the ice at the end of the game were given 10-minute misconducts.

While Blashill was still a bit unhappy with some of the penalties taken in Saturday’s win over the Nashville Predators, he has been happy with his team’s overall discipline.

“We have a lot of belief in our penalty kill,” he said. “But their power play is excellent. It certainly taxes any good penalty kill. The more you’re on the penalty kill, the harder it is to continuously kill over and over again. I think we’ve done a better job at staying out of the box. But that’s always going to be dictated by the flow of the game, the decisions of the referees, and what the standard is.

“While we’ve done a better job at staying out of the box, we have to stay away from the penalties like the one we took at the end of the Nashville game. That was an avoidable penalty. We certainly don’t want to take those against this team here tonight.”

The Oilers boast the NHL’s top power play, essentially scoring on one out of every three opportunities. Giving their top stars extra room on the ice is a recipe for disaster. Even though the Blackhawks’ penalty kill has been excellent all season, not using them tonight would go a long way toward another victory.

 Connor McDavid’s Gone Streaking

The Oilers usually go as their two top dogs, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, go. McDavid has been scorching hot of late, riding a career-high 18-game point streak. He has goals in four straight games, including his 30th of the season against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. He has 19 goals and 42 points during this current run, and has himself right back in the Hart Trophy race.

McDavid has points in 12 of his last 13 games against the Blackhawks. In 24 career games, he has 11 goals and 35 points. Tonight will be his fourth time facing Knight. McDavid has one goal on 14 shots in the previous three games against the Blackhawks’ top netminder.

Season Series

11/1 @ EDM, L 2-3, OT
1/12 vs EDM
4/2 @ EDM

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (23)
A-Connor Bedard (27)
P-Bedard (46)
PPG-Bertuzzi (9)
GWG-Bedard/Bertuzzi (3)
SOG-Bedard (110)
PIM-Colton Dach (45)

Oilers Team Leaders

G-Connor McDavid (30)
A-McDavid (48)
P-McDavid (78)
PPG-Leon Draisaitl (11)
GWG-Vasily Podkolzin (4)
SOG-McDavid (171)
PIM-Darnell Nurse (76)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.82 (24th)
GA/G-3.09 (17th)
PP%-23.3 (7th)
PK%-85.0 (4th)
SOG/G-25.2 (31st)
SA/G-29.7 (28th)
FO%-47.0 (28th)
PIM/G-10:21 (25th)

Oilers Team Stats

GF/G-3.38 (4th)
GA/G-3.31 (26th)
PP%-33.9 (1st)
PK%-79.5 (17th)
SOG/G-28.8 (11th)
SA/G-27.2 (11th)
FO%-52.6 (4th)
PIM/G-9:46 (23rd)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

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

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

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty

Injured

F-Frank Nazar (upper body)

Oilers Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin-Leon Draisaitl-Kasperi Kapanen
Isaac Howard-Jack Roslovic-Matthew Savoie
Mattias Janmark-Curtis Lazar-Trent Frederic

Defensemen
Mattias Elkholm-Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse-Ty Emberson
Spencer Stastney-Alec Regula

Scratched
F-Andrew Mangiapane

Injured
F-Adam Henrique (undisclosed), G-Tristan Jarry (lower body), D-Jake Walman (lower body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (13-11-6, 2.62 GAA, .910 SV%, 2 SO) vs Calvin Pickard (5-6-2, 3.68 GAA, .871 SV%, 0 SO)