Pittsburgh Penguins (9–6–1) .vs Chicago Blackhawks (5–7–3)
6:00 p.m. CST
PPG Paints Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN
Projected starting goaltenders
Chicago — Corey Crawford (2–4–1, .901 save percentage, 3.50 goals-against average)
Pittsburgh — Matt Murray (8–3–1, .914 save percentage, 2.40 goals-against average)
Team statistics
Power play
Chicago (14.6%, 23rd)
Pittsburgh (13.3%, 25th)
Penalty kill
Chicago (80.0%, 19th)
Pittsburgh (86.8%, fourth)
Shots for/against
Chicago
-30.5, 21st
-35.8, 30th
Pittsburgh
-34.7, fourth
-29.1, third
Shooting percentage
Chicago (6.18%, 30th)
Pittsburgh (8.95%, 12th)
Face-off percentage
Chicago (48.1%, 25th)
Pittsburgh (50.5%, 11th)
Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 196 pounds
Pittsburgh — 6-foot-1, 193 pounds
Projected lines and pairings
Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Zack Smith
Drake Caggiula — Ryan Carpenter — Andrew Shaw
Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Slater Koekkoek
Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Galchenyuk – Sidney Crosby – Jake Guentzel
Jared McCann – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Dominik Simon – Nick Bjugstad – Dominik Kahun
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Brandon Tanev
Brian Dumoulin – John Marino
Marcus Pettersson – Justin Schultz
Jack Johnson – Juuso Riikola
Analysis
Following a much needed 5–2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, the Blackhawks head to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins. Pittsburgh is coming off a 4–3 overtime win against the New York Islanders, Thursday night. In the win, the Penguins fell behind 3–0 to the Islanders before screaming back in the third period and scoring four unanswered goals while outshooting New York 39–23 overall.
Chicago also had an exciting Thursday evening. Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks jumped out to a first period 2–0 lead and scored three more in the third period to beat the Canucks 5–2. In probably his strongest outing of the season, Crawford made 36 saves. Patrick Kane (one goal, two assists) and Dylan Strome (three assists) each finished with three points apiece and former Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta had two assists.
The story of the game will rely on the Penguins sitting near the top of the league in shots on goal per game, while also holding opponents to just 29 shots per game. Additionally, the Blackhawks hold a pretty paltry 1–4–1 road record this season while the Penguins are 5–3–1 at the PPG Paints Arena. Goalie Corey Crawford is 9–1–0 with 1.66 goals-against average and .949 save percentage against the Penguins over his career. Head Coach Jeremy Colliton stated after the morning skate that rookies Adam Boqvist and Kirby Dach will both be taking the night off as per their “development plan.”
Will the Blackhawks continue to be anemic on the road or will they finally break through against a quality (and better) Eastern Conference opponent?
Comment below in our live game thread tonight!
And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game by Ron Luce right here on The-Rink.com.