Chicago Blackhawks (8–8–5) at Washington Capitals (10–7–3)
6 p.m. CST/7 p.m. EST
Capital One Arena
TV/Radio: WGN/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Corey Crawford (5–6–1, SV%: 0.922 GAA: 2.44)
Washington – Braden Holtby (6–5–2, SV%: 0.906 GAA: 3.07)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (14.1%, 29th)
Washington (26.7%, 4th)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (74.6%, T-26th)
Washington (73.3%, 29th)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.4, 12th; 33.4, 28th)
Washington (30.8, 20th; 32.3, 20th)
Shooting %
Chicago (8.2%, 26th)
Washington (10.9%, T-5th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.8%, 17th)
Washington (48.9%, 20th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Washington 6’1” 204lbs
PROJECTED LINEUPS/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Artem Anisimov–Nick Schmaltz
Alexandre Fortin–David Kampf–Dominik Kahun
John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Andreas Martinsen
Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson–Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning–Jan Rutta
Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin–Lars Eller–Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana–Nicklas Backstrom–Andre Burakovsky
Chandler Stephenson–Travis Boyd–Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitrij Jaskin–Nic Dowd–Brett Connolly
Dmitry Orlov–John Carlson
Michal Kempny–Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos–Madison Bowey
Analysis
Having earned a point in four straight games (2–0–2), the Chicago Blackhawks take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. Tonight’s game starts a stretch of five road games in the Hawks’ next six contests.
Corey Crawford, having turned aside 39 shots against the Wild on Sunday, will be opposite Braden Holtby in net. Both goalies have had their ups and downs in their playoff runs—Crawford having been pulled in round one in 2015 and Holtby starting last year’s playoffs on the bench—however, both are directly responsible for their team’s Stanley Cup success.
Chicago tallied a power play goal on Sunday, giving them two straight games scoring on the man advantage. Jonathan Toews, who tallied the goal, is on a four-game point streak (two goals, three assists).
Forward Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 15 goals this season. The captain is tied in points with forward Nicklas Backstrom with 23 points each, respectively.
Tonight’s contest will be a good matchup for the Blackhawks’ defense. The Capitals can score in waves and can turn a power play into an easy goal. However, the Hawks have surrendered just two goals in the past three games.