Blackhawks vs Wild Preview, Projected Lines
Tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks (25-30-12) face off against the Minnesota Wild (39-18-12) for the second time in 3 nights. This is the final meeting between them this season. In a strange coincidence, every game has resulted in the same score: 4-3 Minnesota. Every game has also required extra time. Considering that 5 out of the last 7 Blackhawks games have gone to OT, there is a strong possibility of extra time tonight.
Speaking of OT, the Wild absolutely dominated on Tuesday night. The combination of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes and the rest was too much to overcome. Despite this, the Blackhawks have to be encouraged that they erased a 3-1 deficit to force overtime. The game-tying goal with 1:40 left was an absolute beauty. Artyom Levshunov had a beautiful pass to Connor Bedard, who then dished it to Frank Nazar on a 2-on-1 play. The future is bright.
I mentioned the Blackhawks had a 3-1 deficit. This was the second straight game the Blackhawks gave up 3 goals in the first period. Again, it’s great they battled back and were arguably the better team for stretches. But they have to start the game on time.
Head Coach Jeff Blashill had this to say: “Once we got going, we were real good. We just have to find a way to try to get that stretched out more to 60 minutes.” This is a great summary of the Blackhawks season. They can be a good team, but the effort level has to be consistent throughout the game. Unfortunately, that has not been the case very often.
Photo by: Chicago Blackhawks
Projected Lines:
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen
Mangiapane-Donato-Mikheyev
Lardis-Lafferty-Slaggert
Vlasic-Levshunov
Kaiser-Rinzel
Del Mastro-Crevier
Grzelcyk
Knight
Louis Crevier was awesome Tuesday night, with a goal and the assist. He has one of the hardest slap shots in the NHL (Most 100+ MPH shots this season - 5). Bedard also had a strong game with two assists. Minnesota played very physical on Tuesday night, with Michael McCarron landing a big hit against Bedard seconds into the game.
One thing to keep track of: The Blackhawks continue to lead the league on the PK. However, they allowed 2 PP goals against Vegas last Saturday and another against the Wild. The losses of Nick Foligno, Connor Murphy, and Jason Dickinson are big reasons for the slippage. Going forward, the Blackhawks will need to be a lot more disciplined. The Minnesota Wild have the 5th-best PP in the NHL, so giving them opportunities is dangerous.
