The Blackhawks are in Pittsburgh tonight. Chicago beat the Penguins 10-1 in their season opener. However, both teams’ fortunes have changed somewhat since.
Chicago Blackhawks (9-8-2) at Pittsburgh Penguins (11-7-3)
7PM Eastern/6PM Central
RADIO: WGN 720
TV: WGN, AT&TSN Pittsburgh
PROJECTED GOALIES:
Chicago:
Corey Crawford (8-7-0, 2.26 GAA, .930 save%)
Pittsburgh:
Matt Murray (11-4-1, 2.85 GAA, .906 save%)
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:
Chicago
Saad-Toews-Panik
Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane
Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat
Bouma-Wingels-Hayden
Keith-Franson
Murphy-Seabrook
Forsling-Rutta
Pittsburgh
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Sheary-Sheahan-Hornqvist
Kuhnhackl-McKegg-Reaves
DuMoulin-Letang
Maatta-Ruhwedel
Cole-Schultz
STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:
Power Play:
Chicago 14.6% (29th)
Pittsburgh 23.8% (4th)
Penalty Kill:
Chicago 84.3% (8th)
Pittsburgh 78.3% (22nd)
Corsi For% (5-on-5):
Chicago 51.2% (10th)
Pittsburgh 51.1% (11th)
Faceoffs:
Chicago 48.3% (24th)
Pittsburgh 49.9% (19th)
SUMMARY:
After a rough start to the season including a 10-1 loss to the Blackhawks, the Pens have been playing well since, and present a tough test for Chicago. The Hawks are coming off a 6-3 win over the Rangers, where they played very well over the last 40 minutes.
The ongoing challenge for Chicago is achieving consistency in execution—playing sound, smart hockey up and down the ice and minimizing mistakes, especially in their own end, but also in terms of avoid over-commitment and allowing odd-man breaks.
We’ll have a recap on the-rink.com after the game, and commentary later tonight or tomorrow as well.
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