Reichel "revenge" game overshadows Bedard's hometown visit in Vancouver tonight

Chicago Blackhawks (5-5-3, 13 pts) @ Vancouver Canucks (7-7-0, 14 pts)
9 pm CT – Rogers Arena
TV: CHSN (Ball/Granato)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Fraser)

The Chicago Blackhawks continue their six-game road trip at the Vancouver Canucks tonight. This is the second of three regular-season matchups between the two teams. The Canucks won the first meeting at the United Center back on Oct. 17. That was the night when Tyler Bertuzzi had a late go-ahead goal taken off the board because of a questionable goaltender interference call, and the Blackhawks eventually lost in a shootout.

These two teams are a fairly even matchup on paper, as they are nearly statistically even. There are close in shots and shots allowed per game, with the Blackhawks having a slight edge in scoring and goals allowed.

The Canucks are one point ahead of the Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings. That is a rather impressive feat when you consider the number of injuries they have dealt with to start the season. They just got star defenseman Quinn Hughes back, who recently missed four games. They are still without key contributors like Conor Garland, Filip Chytil, and Nils Hoglander.

The Blackhawks won’t miss Garland, as he’s been a pain in the neck against them with seven goals and 15 points in 16 career games. Keifer Sherwood surprisingly leads the Canucks with nine goals this season. He has yet to record an assist this season, but he has a goal and seven helpers in 13 games against the Blackhawks.

Lukas Reichel “Revenge” Game

Usually, when the Blackhawks roll into Vancouver, it’s all about Connor Bedard returning to his hometown. That storyline is overshadowed by Lukas Reichel’s first game against the Blackhawks since being traded to the Canucks on Oct. 24. Using the word revenge might be a bit harsh because, by all reports, the two sides parted ways on good terms. However, a player always wants to show his former team that they made a mistake by letting him go.

Reichel is being given the chance to earn a top-six role in Vancouver, something that was never going to happen in Chicago. He has been centering their second line since arriving, playing with Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser. He’s been averaging nearly 16 minutes per game, but he’s not producing. In his six games with the Canucks, he has zero points, only seven shots on goal, and is a minus-5. Sound familiar?

We’re Going Streaking

Tonight’s game features three big streaks: two the Blackhawks want to continue, and one they desperately want to end. Bedard enters tonight’s game on a five-game point streak with four goals and nine points in that span. If he finds the scoresheet tonight, this will be the second-longest point streak of his young career.

Andre Burakovsky has scored goals in three straight games and his points in four contests in a row. In 21 career games versus Vancouver, he has three goals and 17 points, including points in six straight games. He enters tonight’s game three points shy of 400 in his career. He and Bedard have formed great chemistry on the Blackhawks’ top line.

If Bedard and Burakovsky continue their point streaks tonight, the Blackhawks have a good shot at snapping their 11-game losing streak to the Canucks. A win tonight by Vancouver will make this the longest winning streak against a single opponent in franchise history. The Blackhawks' last victory over the Canucks came on Nov. 21, 2021. Brandon Hagel scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win, with Marc-Andre Fleury making 40 saves for the shutout.

Arty Party Gaining Momentum

Head coach Jeff Blashill’s use of seven defensemen has allowed him to be careful with Artyom Levshunov. He’s been cautious with how he’s deployed the second overall pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. So far, it’s worked.

Levshunov has gained confidence over the first dozen games of the season and looks far more comfortable on the ice of late. He’s been earning the trust of the coaching staff, as evidenced by his season-high 19:09 of ice time against the Seattle Kraken. While he’s still making mistakes, they are coming far less frequently. And when he has mismanaged the puck, he has the speed and skill to make up for it, as shown here:

Season Series

10/17 2-3 (SO) vs VAN
11/5 @ VAN
3/6 vs VAN

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Connor Bedard/Ryan Donato (6)
A-Bedard (10)
P-Bedard (16)
PPG-Bedard/Tyler Bertuzzi (2)
GWG-Donato (2)
SOG-Bedard (41)
PIM-Louis Crevier (21)

Canucks Team Leaders

G-Kiefer Sherwood (9)
A-Conor Garland (8)
P-Garland (11)
PPG-Jake DeBrusk (3)
GWG-5 tied with 1
SOG-DeBrush (42)
PIM-Evander Kane (28)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-3.00 (17th)
GA/G-2.85 (12th)
PP%-17.5 (21st)
PK%-80.8 (15th)
SOG/G-25.2 (29th)
SA/G-29.2 (20th)
FO%-47.9 (23rd)
PIM/G-11:23 (30th)

Canucks Team Stats

GF/G-2.71 (25th)
GA/G-3.21 (23rd)
PP%-20.0 (17th)
PK%-69.4 (27th)
SOG/G-25.8 (27th)
SA/G-30.1 (24th)
FO%-44.9 (30th)
PIM/G-9:08 (18th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Greene-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Oliver Moore-Ryan Donato-Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach-Nick Foligno

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

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty

Injured
G-Laurent Brossoit (hip), F-Jason Dickinson (upper body)

Canucks Probable Lines

Forwards
Evander Kane-Elias Pettersson-Keifer Sherwood
Jake DeBrusk-Lukas Reichel-Brock Boeser
Drew O’Connor-Aatu Raty-Mackenzie MacEachern
Arshdeep Bains-Max Sasson-Linus Karlsson

Defensemen
Quinn Hughes-Tyler Myers
Marcus Pettersson-Filip Hronek
Elias Pettersson-Tom Willander

Scratched
F-Nils Aman, D-P.O. Joseph, D-Kirill Kudryavtsev

Injured
F-Teddy Blueger (undisclosed), D-Guillaume Brisbois (lower body), F-Filip Chytil (upper body), D-Derek Forbort (undisclosed), F-Conor Garland (undisclosed), Nils Hoglander (lower body), F-Jonathan Lekkerimaki (undisclosed), D-Victor Mancini (upper body), D-Jett Woo (upper body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (4-3-2, 2.62 GAA, .913 SV%, 0 SO) vs Kevin Lankinen (2-3-0, 3.53 GAA, .885 SV%, O SO)