Chicago Blackhawks (2–3–2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (3–3–1)
7:30 p.m. CDT
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN
Projected starters
Chicago — Robin Lehner (1–0–2, .943 save percentage, 1.93 goals against average)
Philadelphia — Brian Elliott (1–1–0, .925 save percentage, 2.56 goals against average)
Team statistics
Power play
Chicago (13.6%, 25th)
Philadelphia (27.6%, Fifth)
Penalty kill
Chicago (73.9%, 24th)
Philadelphia (75.0%, 23rd)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (33.4, Eighth; 33.7, Sixth)
Philadelphia (36.3, Second; 27.3, 30th)
Shooting percentage
Chicago (8.1%)
Philadelphia (8.3%)
Face off percentage
Chicago (50.4%, 14th)
Philadelphia (56.7%, First)
Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 198 pounds
Philadelphia — 6-foot-2, 198 pounds
Projected lines and pairings
Chicago Blackhawks
Alex DeBrincat — Jonathan Toews — Andrew Shaw
Dylan Strome — Kirby Dach — Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik
Drake Caggiula — Ryan Carpenter — Alexander Nylander
Duncan Keith — Calvin de Haan
Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek — Erik Gustafsson
Philadelphia Flyers
James van Riemsdyk — Claude Giroux — Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny
Scott Laughton — Kevin Hayes — Joel Farabee
Michael Raffl — Mikhail Vorobyev — Chris Stewart
Ivan Provorov — Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim — Justin Braun
Shayne Gostisbehere — Robert Hagg
Analysis
On a night of firsts, the Chicago Blackhawks failed to notch their first win against the Vegas Golden Knights and their winless streak against the Golden Knights continued. In the loss, though, Kirby Dach scored his first NHL goal to the delight of the United Center crowd. Despite the goal, Dach played a measly 8:22. Decision time is coming on Dach with seven games remaining before his contract starts rolling.
Another first was Robin Lehner losing his first shootout of the season. Despite another stellar effort, he was once again robbed of the win. Lehner continues to shine with the Blackhawks and should be playing himself into a contract extension.
Lastly, the Blackhawks suffered their first significant injury of the season. Connor Murphy injured his groin and has subsequently been placed on long-term injured reserve. Murphy has been having success as of late with Duncan Keith and his loss delivers a big blow to the already shakey Blackhawk defense. Dennis Gilbert was recalled to take Murphy’s place on the roster.
The Philadelphia Flyers are coming in well-rested, having not played since Monday. Ironically, the Flyers’ last game was a victory over the Golden Knights. Philadelphia appears to be evenly matched with the Blackhawks on paper, however, there is one glaring difference: Face off percentage significantly favors Philadelphia. Sean Couturier is the Flyers’ leader with a 67.0% win percentage and ranks in the top 15 of face off regulars. The counterpunch for the Blackhawks could be their face off specialist, Ryan Carpenter. Carpenter was deployed in that role against the Golden Knights and had success along with David Kampf.
Another similarity for the Blackhawks and Flyers is their goalie situation, as both teams are employing a tandem setup. The Flyers are using both veteran Brian Elliott and the youngster Carter Hart. Both have played better than expected thus far.
Can the Blackhawks overcome the loss of Murphy? Whose goalie tandem will prevail?