Blackhawks vs Sharks Preview, Projected lines
Tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks (28-35-14) play against the San Jose Sharks (36-32-7). After 2 straight seasons of being at the very bottom of the standings, the Sharks are currently in the playoff chase. They are led by 19-year old phenom (and Olympic silver medalist) Macklin Celebrini, who has 106 points in 75 games. That is nearly double the amount of points of Will Smith, who is 2nd on the Sharks in points. He has 54 in 62 games this season. Although there has been a lot of debate regarding San Jose’s rebuild, they only have 3 more regulation wins than Chicago. Put another way, the Sharks are much better at winning games in overtime. That is one significant reason that they have taken a bigger step forward than Chicago.
After 5 losses in a row, Chicago responded with a great game against Seattle on Saturday night. Arguably the best part of the game was Sacha Boisvert’s first NHL goal; he snapped home a beautiful wrist shot that proved to be the game-winner. He had 9:18 of ice time and looked comfortable in his 5th NHL game. Connor Bedard had 2 assists and set up the Ilya Mikheyev empty net goal by winning the face-off. Bedard easily could have had more points if not for the heroics of Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer. Andre Burakovsky was demoted to the 4th line and only played 09:24. He was a +1 and did not have a shot on goal. I think this line is where he will finish the season.
Photo by: Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks also played a solid defensive game on Saturday. They held Seattle to 27 shots; in the previous 5 games, they allowed an average of 37. Although Seattle is not a particularly offensive team, this is still an impressive achievement for Chicago’s young defensive core. The Sharks are offensively stronger than the Kraken, but much weaker defensively and in goal. Goaltending is one advantage Chicago should have over San Jose. Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight has a .908 save percentage, while Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov has a .886. The Blackhawks need to take advantage of their opportunities, and need to limit San Jose’s.
Speaking of opportunities, Kevin Korchinski is certainly taking advantage of his. Although he only had 11:20 of ice time, he was very active in the offensive zone. He had a beautiful assist on the Boisvert goal. Head Coach Jeff Blashill said about Korchinski: “He's not over-complicating it. He's using his feet to beat pressure, then he's moving the puck to the open people. When he does that and defends with his feet, he's been a good player.” This is the type of player Korchinski was expected to be when he was drafted 7th overall in 2022.
Projected Lines
Teravainen - Bedard - Lardis
Bertuzzi - Frondell - Mikheyev
Greene - Nazar - Donato
Burakovsky - Lafferty - Slaggert
Vlasic - Crevier
Kaiser - Rinzel
Korchinski - Del Mastro
Knight
The Blackhawks have 70 points with 5 games left in the season, including tonight’s matchup. This is the best point total for the Blackhawks since the 2021 Covid-era season, where they only played 56 games. For reference:
2024–25: 61 points
2023–24: 52 points
2022–23: 59 points
2021–22: 68 points
Even though the season has been a very winding road, there has been some good progress made. With 5 games left, the Blackhawks should hopefully have a strong finish to the season.
