San Jose Sharks (17–11–5) at Chicago Blackhawks (10–18–6)
6:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: WGN/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Corey Crawford (6–14–2, SV%: .903, GAA: 3.23)
San Jose– Martin Jones (13–7–3, SV%: .901, GAA: 2.83)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (11.9%, 31st)
San Jose (23.0%, 9th)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.3%, 31st)
San Jose (84.6%, 3rd)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.2, 12th; 34.0, 28th)
San Jose (34.7, 3rd; 28.8, 5th)
Shooting %
Chicago (8.8%, 27th)
San Jose (9.2%, 24th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (50.2%,13th)
San Jose (49.9%, 17th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
San Jose 6’1” 200lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dominik Kahun
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Patrick Kane
Dylan Sikura–David Kampf–Brendan Perlini
John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Andreas Martinsen
Duncan Keith–Henri Jokiharju
Brent Seabrook–Brandon Manning
Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy
San Jose Sharks
Tomas Hertl–Logan Couture–Timo Meier
Evander Kane–Joe Pavelski–Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen–Joe Thornton–Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow–Lukas Radil–Melker Karlsson
Brenden Dillon–Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek–Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic–Justin Braun
Analysis
The Blackhawks are now last in the league in both power play (11.9%) and penalty kill (73.3%) percentages. It’s a bad sign when fans joke about “declining the penalty” when given a power play. What is the issue? Many coaches (head and assistant) have tried to figure that out without success.
Chicago also resides in the basement in goal differential (-32) in the league. This stat can get skewed from one poor showing (or great one), but over time, does provide a metric for the team’s performance.
Corey Crawford will be in net tonight. The 33-year old has registered a save percentage over .900 only three times in his last ten starts, allowing three plus goals in all ten games. High percentage chances allowed plays a role in his struggles. However, a lgetimate “goalie win” has not been registered in over a month.
San Jose enters tonight on a three-game winning streak. Forward Timo Meier netted four goals the past two games. The 22-year old also leads the Sharks in points (32) and second in goals (18) behind Center Joe Pavelski (20 goals).
Comment below in our live game thread tonight!