Arizona Coyotes (36–33–7) vs Chicago Blackhawks (33–32–10)
9:00pm CST
Gila River Arena
TV/Radio: WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Corey Crawford (13–17–3, SV%: .908, GAA: 2.97)
Arizona – Darcy Kuemper (24–19–7, SV%: .921, GAA: 2.45)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (20.6%, 11th)
Arizona (16.7%, 23rd)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.3%, 31st)
Arizona (85.5%, 1st)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.6, 11th; 34.7, 30th)
Arizona (30.4, 22nd; 30.7, 12th)
Shooting %
Chicago (10.1%, 8th)
Arizona (8.4%, 26th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.5%, T19th)
Arizona (47.4%, T29th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Arizona 6’1” 194lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Alex DeBrincat–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Brendan Perlini–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura
Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger
Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook
Arizona Coyotes
Richard Panik–Christian Dvorak–Clayton Keller
Lawson Crouse–Derek Stepan–Josh Archibald
Michael Grabner–Brad Richardson–Vinnie Hinostroza
Alex Galchenyuk–Nick Cousins–Conor Garland
Oliver Ekman-Larsson–Niklas Hjalmarsson
Jakob Chychrun–Jordan Oesterle
Analysis
The Blackhawks will pay a visit to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night, giving rise to yet another playoff-like match-up for the Blackhawks. After taking two valuable points on Sunday against the Avalanche, the Blackhawks are setting up for a chance, although very slim, at the playoffs.
The Blackhawks perfect scenario over the weekend would have been to take all four points from the Avalanche. Instead, the Blackhawks only took two points, while the Avalanche took three of a possible four and maintained a nice gap between themselves and the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks have dug themselves a pretty deep hole.
A wing and two points are critical against the Coyotes on Tuesday night. Otherwise, this team is as good as dead in the playoff race and can start focusing on a hopeful draft lottery surprise.
The Coyotes value this game just as much as the Blackhawks do. Sitting two points back of Colorado, the Coyotes need a win to keep pace with the Avalanche. Minnesota is nipping at the Coyotes’ heels, as are the Blackhawks, so the Coyotes need all the cushion they can get while trying to catch Colorado.
Darcy Kuemper, although very good this season, was lit up the last time the Coyotes played the Blackhawks. It will be intriguing to see which version of Kuemper shows up. If it’s the version who showed up in Chicago two weeks ago, the Blackhawks could be looking at another victory to keep their playoff dreams alive.