NEWSLETTER
Tonight’s matchup is the first of eight between the Blackhawks and Panthers this season. And after two losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blackhawks are looking to leave Florida with higher vitamin D levels and and a couple of wins under their belts.
Meanwhile, it’ll always be weird seeing future Hall of Fame head coach Joel Quenneville coaching against the Chicago Blackhawks. Now in year two behind the bench for the Panthers, Coach Q still has the ability to drop a good “we’ll see” in media scrums and get animated with the refs.
Go Hawks.
Broadcast Info
Puck drop: 6 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, FS-South, NHLN
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (0-2-0, 0 pts)
DeBrincat – Suter – Kane
Kubalík – Strome – Kurashev
Janmark – Wallmark – Shaw
Highmore – Kämpf – Carpenter
Keith – Murphy
Zadorov – Boqvist
de Haan – Mitchell
Delia
Panthers (0-0-0, 0 pts)
Verhaeghe – Barkov – Duclair
Huberdeau – Wennberg – Hornqvist
Vatrano – Luostarinen – Tippett
Lomberg – Acciari – Connolly
Weegar – Ekblad
Yandle – Gudas
Forsling – Stralman
Driedger
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
Brent Seabrook (IR – Lower Back)
Zack Smith (IR – Back)
Kirby Dach (LTIR – Out 4-5 months – Wrist)
Alex Nylander (LTIR – Out 4-6 months – Knee)
Jonathan Toews (LTIR – Illness)
Panthers:
Markus Nutivaara (Day-to-day)
Sergei Bobrovsky (Day-to-day)
Noah Juulsen (Day-to-day)
Juho Lammikko (Day-to-day)
What To Watch For
• The Blackhawks come into tonight’s game with two challenging games under their belt off of a short “training camp.” The Panthers will be in their first game action of the season after having their opener against the Dallas Stars rescheduled due to the Stars’ COVID outbreak. Chicago has come out strong in the opening period of both their games this season. If the Blackhawks can make it three strong starts, they could see their first lead of the season in the opening frame.
• Not only do the Blackhawks theoretically have their game legs already underneath them, unlike the Panthers, but Florida will also be without former Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky in net. Instead, the Blackhawks will have the task of trying to solve Chris Driedger.
• Chicago allowed 70 shots on net in two games against the Lightning. That trend cannot continue. The Blackhawks will need to tighten their team defense up to help out Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia in net. Not every game is going to see the kind of firepower that Tampa Bay has. Against an *on-paper* weaker roster with the Panthers, hopefully the Blackhawks can hold Florida under 30 shots, which would be a welcomed improvement for Delia tonight.
Get Caught Up …
https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1350826008128204804?s=20
https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers/status/1350820343053742082?s=20
Joel Quenneville says Duncan Keith needs a haircut.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 17, 2021
Patrick Kane said he joked with Joel Quenneville that the coach "stole his thunder" when Quenneville was honored with a tribute in his return to the United Center the same night Kane was honored for 1,000 points. #Blackhawks #FlaPanthers
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) January 17, 2021
Patrick Kane on facing Joel Quenneville: "More than anything it’s just fun to look and see him, you know? It’s a little bit different that he’s on a different bench. … I think it’s just fun to see him in general. He’s got that aura about him as one of the best coaches ever."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 17, 2021
Patrick Kane on playing with rookie Pius Suter: "Suter did a good job. He wins a lot of battles, he can skate, he can get to the front of the net." #Blackhawks
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) January 17, 2021
Patrick Kane says it'll be nice to see a few thousand fans in the building tonight in Florida.
"If there comes a point where we can get fans in the crowd at the United Center, obviously we would appreciate that and that would be great, but we'll see when that happens."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 17, 2021
Jeremy Colliton said Nick Seeler was placed on unconditional waivers because he didn't report to his AHL assignment. #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 17, 2021
