Blackhawks vs Golden Knights Preview, Projected Lines

Tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks (25-29-11) head into Sin City to face the Vegas Golden Knights (30-22-14). Coming off 2 wins in a row (both against the Utah Mammoth), the Blackhawks will be looking for their longest winning streak since January. The Blackhawks have 61 points, which was last season’s total. With 17 games left, they are poised to easily surpass that number. The 25 wins thus far also equals last season’s total.

This is the 3rd and final meeting between the two teams. Vegas won the first game 4-3 in a shootout on December 2nd. Chicago won the second game in OT, 3-2. That victory featured a Tyler Bertuzzi hat trick (Bedard was still injured in this game).

Photo by: Chicago Blackhawks

Although Vegas has a winning record, they actually have more losses than wins. One area Chicago may have a distinct advantage: goaltending. All 3 of Vegas’ goalies feature below .900 SV%. Spencer Knight has a .909 SV% for comparison. Considering the youth of the Blackhawks defense, that is pretty incredible. Vegas also tends to start games slowly, so a good start from Chicago is important. Especially on the road, it’s important to set the tone early. Of course, the challenge for the Blackhawks all season has been playing a full 60 minutes. Against Vegas, putting in a good effort is key.

Wyatt Kaiser left the game late Thursday night with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. He is not expected to play; Ethan Del Mastro is coming in. Kaiser has been really good this season and is very composed with the puck. His absence tonight is a pretty big loss for the team, hopefully the rest of the defense core can have a strong game. Thankfully his shoulder injury does not appear to be serious; he is expected to play Tuesday against Minnesota.

Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard look to stay hot. Nazar has 8 points in his last 5 games, Bedard has 7 in his last 5. Nazar has goals in 2 straight and seems to have found his groove again. Keep an eye on Nick Lardis and his TOI tonight. He assisted on the Bedard OT winner Thursday night; in my opinion, he deserves more of an opportunity. Look out for Andre Burakovsky too! After appearing to be on the right track in Monday’s win (he actually scored!), he had a costly turnover that lead to a Dylan Guenther goal on Thursday. Unfortunately, turnover Burakovsky seems to be his default setting lately.

Speaking of OT, you may want to prepare yourself for a long night. 4 of the last 5 Blackhawks have required extra time. As mentioned, both games against Vegas have needed extra time as well. Considering the game starts at 9:00 p.m, CST, get some coffee ready!

Projected Lines:

Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky

Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen

Mangiapane-Donato-Mikheyev

Lardis-Lafferty-Slaggert

Vlasic-Crevier

Del Mastro-Rinzel

Grzelcyk-Levshunov

Knight

If the lines look familiar, that’s because they should be! With 2 wins in a row, the lines are the same as Thursday night. One underrated forward has been Andrew Mangiapane; he’s been good since arriving from Edmonton. Sam Lafferty has played in the last 2 games, as Oliver Moore was injured in Dallas last Sunday. It appears that the Blackhawks might be wearing their black jerseys tonight. In that case, it’s the Golden Knights vs the Dark Knight.

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