Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-0) at Chicago Blackhawks (2-0-0)
7PM Eastern/6 Central
United Center
TV/Radio: NHL Network, NBCSCH/WGN
Goalies:
Chicago
Anton Forsberg (.000 save%, 0.00 GAA)
Toronto
Garrett Sparks (.000 save%, 0.00 GAA)
Team statistics:
Power play
Chicago (0.0%)
Toronto (40.0%)
Penalty kill
Chicago (66.7%)
Toronto (83.3%)
Shots for/against per game
Chicago (36.5, 27.5)
Toronto (31.5, 30.0)
Shooting%
Chicago (12.3%)
Toronto (9.5%)
Faceoff%
Chicago (45.8%)
Toronto (54.4%)
Avg. height/weight:
Chicago: 6’1”, 196
Toronto: 6’1” 195
Lineups:
Chicago
DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun
Saad-Schmaltz-Kane
Kunitz-Anisimov-Kampf
Kruger-Johnson-Martinsen
Keith-Jokiharju
Manning-Seabrook
Davidson-Rutta
Toronto:
Marleau – Matthews – Ennis
Hyman – Tavares – Marner
Leivo – Kadri – Brown
Johnsson – Lindhom – Kapanen
Reilly – Hainsey
Gardiner – Zaitsev
Dermott – Ozhiganov
Analysis:
The charter flight home from St. Louis had to be an enjoyable one. After back-to-back wins on the road to open the season, the Blackhawks take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight on home ice.
Jonathan Toews sparked a great win against a divisional rival with his fifth career hat trick last night. Toews has four goals already on the season. His first two games have been outstanding.
Toronto’s off-season acquisition of center John Tavares was the talk of the summer around NHL circles. Tavares combines with Auston Matthews to give the Leafs quite a punch up the middle.
With both teams playing back-to-back, Anton Forsberg and Garrett Sparks will both see their first action of the season in net. Sparks, an Elmhurst, IL native, flashed enough potential to make the team out of camp. Forsberg must prove he can be consistent at the NHL level.
Comment below in our live game thread tonight!
And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game later tonight or early tomorrow on the-rink.com.