Blackhawks Look to Rebound Against the Flyers on Saturday Night

In what can only be described as a poor peformance last night against the Ottawa Senators (2-0 shutout loss), the Chicago Blackhawks will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. With just 19 shots on goal and a less than desirable viewing (opinion) fans alike will trust that head coach Luke Richardson sends a message to start off well when taking on the Flyers.

Philadelphia for its part has been one of the leagues surprise teams. With 82 points, the Flyers currently reside in 7th place in the conference and hold a mark of 36-28-10. The record would indicate, righltly so, that they are involved in a lot of close matchups.

Led by veteran forward Travis Konecny (64 points in 68 games), the team is built around depth. With 14 skaters with at least 20 points it's common for the Flyers to wear down opponents with a well balanced attack. It has also been the emergence of rookie netminder Samuel Ersson that has stabilized the crease (when things could have been very chaotic). The 24 year old Swedish goalie has posted 3 straight starts with a .900+ save % and will likely look to continue this streak against a Hawks team that has trouble hitting the back of the net of late.

Connor Bedard and company, having just gone on a road trip, will look to have a more spirited start to the match and look to capitalize on any opportunities that come along early. A power play just 9 seconds into last night's game turned into a turnover that led to a short handed goal for instance. It's these type of things that get a young team into trouble against a team with a more experienced roster.

Can the Blackhawks upend the potential playoff upstart Flyers? Perhaps, however we here at Blackhawk Up are just looking for the effort to be there this weekend. Predictions? Post in the comments!