The Blackhawks head to Dallas to play the Stars tonight in a rematch of Thursday’s game—another game that could affect the team’s playoff position in April.
Chicago Blackhawks (12-9-4) at Dallas Stars (14-10-1)
8:00 PM Central
RADIO: WGN 720
TV: NBC Sports Chicago/Fox Sports SW
PROJECTED GOALIES:
Chicago:
Anton Forsberg (1-2-2, 3.67 GAA, .904 save%)
Dallas:
Kari Lehtonen (2-3-1, 2.89 GAA, .897 save%)
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:
CHICAGO
Saad-Toews-Panik
Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane
Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat
Bouma-Wingels-Hayden
Keith-Franson
Murphy-Seabrook
Forsling-Rutta
DALLAS
Benn-Seguin-Radulov
Janmark- Spezza-Shore
Roussel-Faksa-Pitlick
Elie-Smith- Ritchie
Lindell-Klingberg
Hamhuis-Pateryn
Johns-Honka
STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:
Power play:
Chicago 17.1% (23rd)
Dallas 22.1% (9th)
Penalty kill:
Chicago 84.4% (4h)
Dallas 83.7% (6th)
Corsi For % (5-on-5)
Chicago 51.6% (9th)
Dallas 51.4% (10th)
Faceoffs:
Chicago 48.5% (25th)
Dallas 52.5% (5th)
SUMMARY:
The same things are at stake tonight when the Hawks visit the Stars as when they met Thursday night in Chicago. However, the pressure to play well ramps up a bit on a Hawk team that lost in overtime to Dallas the night before last—after a fairly long string of strong outings.
The other difference tonight is in net. Kari Lehtonen is slated to go for Dallas, but more importantly, Corey Crawford’s performance Thursday suggested something was wrong, and as it turned out, Crwford was injured. So Anton Forsberg gets the net for Chicago tonight.
Forsberg may be the guy for at last a few games and needs to play well. Having seen Forsberg play for a couple of years now, it is my belief he plays better with more work. He has talent, size and athleticism, but technique and consistency can be a problem. But steady work tends to get him dialed in.
We’ll recap in the AM.
Follow: @jaeckel