NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars tussle for the second time this season after Chicago’s overtime win on Sunday afternoon. The extra time winner was the first road win of the season for Chicago. The Blackhawks have a point in the standings in nine of their last ten games (5-1-4) and are currently fifth in the Central Division with a .538 points percentage and a 5-4-4 record.
The overtime loss for Dallas was their first at home this season, but they remain unbeaten in regulation at the American Airlines Center.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, FS-SW
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (5-4-4, 14 pts)
Janmark – Kurashev – Kane
DeBrincat – Strome – Kubalík
Suter – Söderberg – Hagel
Highmore – Kämpf – Shaw
Keith – Mitchell
deHaan – Murphy
Zadorov – Beaudin
(UPDATE: Connor Murphy is OUT tonight due to a hip injury)
Lankinen
Subban
Stars (5-2-2, 12 pts)
Benn – Pavelski – Kiviranta
Robertson – Hintz – Gurianov
Cogliano – Faksa – Comeau
Kero – Dickinson – Dellandrea
Lindell – Klingberg
Oleksiak – Heiskanen
Hanley – Pysyk
Oettinger
Khudobin
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)
Lucas Wallmark (Day-to-day – COVID Protocol)
Ryan Carpenter (Day-to-day – COVID Protocol)
Stars:
Alexander Radulov (Day-to-day – Lower body)
Joel Kiviranta (Day-to-day – Lower body)
Ben Bishop (LTIR – Knee Surgery)
Stephen Johns (LTIR – Head Injury)
Tyler Seguin (Indefinite – Hip Surgery)
What To Watch For
• I know I sound like a broken record, but the powerplay will be a focus for both teams tonight. The Stars remain one of the top units in the NHL and the Blackhawks have scored at least one powerplay goal in 11 of 13 games this season. Chicago’s penalty-kill will need to be up to the task again tonight. They were three-for-three on Sunday, having killed-off 19 of their last 20 penalties against.
• Patrick Kane has at least one point in his last six games against the Stars. He leads the Blackhawks with 17 points this season. He has ten points over a five-game point streak after tallying two assists on Sunday. Also extending a points streak on Sunday was Alex DeBrincat, scoring both Blackhawks goals in the overtime win. DeBrincat has nine points over a five-game point streak, including six points since returning from the NHL’s COVID Protocol list.
• After getting a complete day off on Sunday, we are expecting Kevin Lankinen to return to the starters net tonight. Lankinen has posted a 4-1-3 record this season with a .928 save percentage and a 2.32 GAA, both rankning in the top five in the NHL for goalies to play in at least six games this season.
Betting Odds
The Blackhawks are +1.5 point underdogs against the Stars tonight, and find themselves at +120 on the moneyline accordinv to the PointsBet Illinois Sportsbook. You can go right here to sign up and make a bet.
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Get Caught Up …
Another big test coming up tonight.#CHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/mBF5ESkK6H
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 9, 2021
De Haan on DeBrincat: "Pucks are just going in for him. Last year, I feel like he could've scored 100 goals and it just didn't go in."
"When I first came to Chicago, I didn't know how good he actually is. But he's going to be a big part of this organization for a long time."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 8, 2021
Colliton on Boqvist: "He needs to skate. He did have COVID, so it's going to take a little bit of time… He has skated a couple days, but we'll see, I'm not sure how long it'll take to get him up to speed."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 9, 2021
Jeremy Colliton on fans being allowed in Dallas:
"Yeah, it's nice. Even if it's a small number that's a little bit of energy. … Once the game starts it feels pretty normal. … You're just so into it it's not a big difference. But certainly we love having fans in the building"— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) February 9, 2021
Brandon Hagel on his many unconverted breakaways:
"Obviously would love to score those. Hopefully it's just creating momentum for the team."
"You've got a split-second to decide what you want to do."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 8, 2021
Patrick Kane of the @NHLBlackhawks recorded 0-2—2 and has at least one point in each of his last six games against Dallas dating to March 9, 2019 (3-5—8).#NHLStats: https://t.co/LbRmdFyNn1 pic.twitter.com/GgXoaN8YLO
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 8, 2021
#GoStars lineup notes vs. #Blackhawks
– Jake Oettinger will make his second straight start in net.
– Joel Kiviranta (lower body) is a game-time decision.
– Alexander Radulov (lower body) and Andrej Sekera (returning from COVID-19 protocol) will not play.— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) February 9, 2021
Anton Khudobin said he was late for practice Saturday, which led to him being scratched by #GoStars coach Rick Bowness for Sunday vs. #Blackhawks.
"I told [Bowness] I just didn't sleep well the whole night and didn't even hear my alarm. I told him it will never happen again."
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) February 8, 2021
Wait for it… 😂 pic.twitter.com/2k5CiNzGrS
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) February 9, 2021
