NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks will not have a long time to dwell on their 6-1 thumping at the hands of the Nashville Predators yesterday as they are back in Chicago tonight to host the Calgary Flames. With yesterday’s loss, the Blackhawks have dropped three-straight games and are now 11-16-4 on the season, 10-7-2 under interim head coach Derek King. The Flames enter tonight’s game having played just once (6-4 win vs Seattle on December 30) since December 11 and are 3-3-1 since the beginning of December.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 6:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, ESPN+ (Out-of-market)
Radio: WGN 720 AM, TUDN 1200 AM (Spanish)
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (11-16-4)
DeBrincat – Borgström – Kane
Hagel – Toews – Strome
Kubalík – Dach – Kurashev
Carpenter – Slavin – Khaira
de Haan – S. Jones
Stillman – Murphy
McCabe – Gustafsson
Söderblom
Flames (16-7-6)
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk
Lucic – Backlund – Coleman
Mangiapane – Dube – Pitlick
Richardson – Monahan – Lewis
Hanifin – Andersson
Kylington – Tanev
Zadorov – Gudbranson
Markstrom
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
Tyler Johnson (Three Months – Neck Surgery)
Kevin Lankinen (Day-to-Day – COVID Protocol)
Reese Johnson (IR – Broken Clavicle)
Flames:
None
What To Watch For
• Arvid Söderblom makes his first NHL start tonight after making his first NHL appearance yesterday. In relief of Collin Delia agains the Predators, Söderblom made 15-of-18 saves in two periods of work. As an AHL rookie this season, Söderblom has a 4-5-0 record, .915 save-percentage, and a 3.15 GAA in nine appearances for the Rockford IceHogs.
• Both teams will be coming into this game a bit rusty. Chicago had a 13-day break between games before yesterday’s 6-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, while the Flames have played just once since December 11, having eight games postponed due to COVID issues.
• Chicago’s penalty-kill was just 1-for-3 yesterday against the Predators, continuing their current struggles while down a man. The Blackhawks rank dead-last in the NHL since Derek King took over on November 7, killing just 35-of-58 penalties for a 66.0% kill-rate. They will face a Flames squad that is tenth in the league this season on the powerplay (23.3%).
Get Caught Up
Derek King says Marc-Andre Fleury says is “good to go” as for as the COVID-19 protocol, but “obviously he hasn’t skated in a while so I’m going to have him on the bench.” #Blackhawks
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) January 2, 2022
No lineup news ahead of tonight’s game against Chicago. Assistant coach Ryan Huska says “there’s still a few things being thrown around.”
5 pm puck drop, 4 pm pregame on @Sportsnet960. Will find out starting goalie and any lineup changes at warmup. #Flames
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) January 2, 2022
Roster Moves: Blackhawks Active Marc-André Fleury, Reassign Collin Delia and More https://t.co/L0xorCm5uk
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 2, 2022
