Blackhawks vs Rangers Preview, Projected Lines

The 30th ranked Chicago Blackhawks visit the big apple tonight to play the 31st ranked New York Rangers. The Hawks are on the second half of a back to back (2 games in 2 nights) and look to bounce back after an awful showing in Philadelphia. A tough 5-1 loss in Sacha Boisvert’s NHL debut left a bad taste in some player’s mouths. The Blackhawks are now 2-2-2 in their last 6 games. According to Scott Powers of the Athletic, Bedard said he hasn’t been happy with his play the last couple, and should be making the game easier for Frondell. Last night’s game felt like a burn the tapes kind of game, one of the worst defensive efforts all year, poor discipline, bad puck management, and it certainly didn’t help that Spencer Knight was having an off night. The youthfulness and inexperience of Chicago’s D-core (all under 25 years old) were exposed last night, showing that Spencer Knight often covers up a lot of the defensive mistakes. However, improvement will come with time and experience.

Photo by: Chicago Blackhawks

On a brighter note, Anton Frondell looks to keep his point streak alive. Having 2 assists in his first 2 NHL games, Frondell has looked comfortable and hasn’t missed a beat at the NHL level. Having had 6 shots on goal and an average of 16:25 time on ice in his first 2 games is very impressive for an 18-year-old. With such a condensed schedule this late in the season, practice time is limited. And with the Blackhawks being on a roadtrip, the only time for Frondell and Boisvert to get practice time is morning skate, which isn’t ideal for learning entirely new systems. As chemistry develops between Frondell, Bedard, and Greene, they will only look better together.

Blackhawks forward Nick Lardis has been red hot lately, with 4 points (2 goals, 2 assist) in his last 5 games. Lardis has looked very comfortable on the second line with Frank Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi. Lardis looked good but struggled to put up points when he was on the 4th line. Now with more minutes, and more talented linemates, he is starting to show why he scored 71 goals in the OHL last season. The 5’11 winger has a knack for finding open ice for scoring chances, and Frank Nazar is getting better at finding him. As the season closes, watch for those two to build more chemistry.

At the end of last night’s game, defensemen Louis Crevier took a skate to the face and immediately went to the locker room for maintenance, leaving a patch of blood on the ice. After the game Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun Times reported that Crevier was in the room chatting with teammates and appeared to be fine. Bullet dodged, expect Crevier to play tonight.

Arvid Soderblom gets the nod versus the Rangers after Spencer Knight played last night versus Philadelphia. Soderblom has struggled in the backup role this season but is coming off of two of his better showings. In the 4-1 loss against Colorado where he made 45 saves (.918 save %) and 4-3 win versus the Islanders where he made 44 saves (.936 save %) Soderblom looked sharp, and he hopes to continue that play going forward. With Drew Commesso getting closer and closer to NHL ready, Soderblom needs to play well to secure his role as backup next season.

Projected Lines

Greene - Bedard - Frondell

Bertuzzi - Nazar - Lardis

Burakovsky - Donato - Mikheyev

Teravainen - Boisvert - Slaggert

Vlasic - Levshunov

Kaiser - Rinzel

Del Mastro - Crevier

Soderblom

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