Detroit Red Wings (21–27–7) vs Chicago Blackhawks (22–24–9)
2:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Collin Delia (6–2–3, SV%: .923, GAA: 2.98)
Detroit – Jonathan Bernier (6–12–2, SV%: .898, GAA: 3.34)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (21.8%, 10th)
Detroit (16.6%, 23rd)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.6%, 31st)
Detroit (77.3%, 25th)
Shots for/against
Chicago (31.5, 16th; 35.1, 30th)
Detroit (29.3, 25th; 32.8, 26th)
Shooting %
Chicago (10.2%, 11th)
Detroit (9.4%, 17th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.7%, 17th)
Detroit (51.2%, T8th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Detroit 6’2” 203lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Brendan Perlini
Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–John Hayden
Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek–Connor Murphy
Gustav Forsling–Erik Gustafsson
Justin Abdelkader–Dylan Larkin–Gustav Nyquist
Thomas Vanek–Frans Nielsen–Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm–Luke Glendening–Andreas Athanasiou
Michael Rasmussen–Jacob de la Rose–Christoffer Ehn
Niklas Kronwall–Mike Green
Dan Dekeyser–Nick Jensen
Jonathan Ericsson–Dennis Cholowski
Analysis
The Blackhawks have now won six-straight games thanks to their victory over the Vancouver Canucks in overtime on Thursday night. After two days off, the refreshed Blackhawks will welcome their old Western Conference foe, the Detroit Red Wings, to the United Center for Sunday matinée hockey.
The key thus far to the Blackhawks streak has been good goaltending mixed with quality offense. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are both outpacing their scoring totals from last season and huge seasons from former Erie teammates Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat have propelled the Blackhawks thus far. If the Blackhawks truly want to compete for a playoff spot, they will need better scoring from the bottom six. Currently, Brandon Saad is the only player playing in the bottom six who has more than 25 points.
The Red Wings enter Sunday’s contest on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Red Wings lost in Buffalo on Saturday 3-1 to the Sabres. The Red Wings have now lost two-straight games after winning three-straight games dating back to January 22nd.
The Blackhawks need to take advantage of a tired Red Wings team. Detroit’s top-two scorers should pose some concern for the Blackhawks defense. Dylan Larkin leads the team with 52 points and is one of the fastest players in the NHL. He will certainly make the Blackhawks defense look foolish if he is given too much space. Gustav Nyquist can also prove to be dangerous if he is given space. In order for the Blackhawks to improve to seven-straight victories, they will need to nullify Detroit’s top-two forwards.