NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks continue their difficult March stretch of the schedule with two more games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida. These are the last two games the Blackhawks will have to play on the road this season against the Lightning, with the final meeting between the teams this season coming later in April at the United Center in a one-off game on April 27th.
Chicago enters the game with a 4-5-1 record in their last ten outings, having lost four of their last five games in regulation. The Blackhawks are still in a playoff spot in the Central Division, sitting in fourth based on points (33) and points percentage (.550), while the Lightning are tied for first-place with the Florida Panthers in both points (42) and points percentage (.750). Chicago is 1-3-1 against the Lightning this season.
One-Timers
•  Kevin Lankinen was once both a Calder Trophy candidate for NHL Rookie of the Year and being mentioned in the early-season discussion for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s Top Goaltender. But now, he has come back down to Earth and is in the middle of the pack when it comes to NHL goaltending. Granted, middle of the pack goaltending is what the Blackhawks could have hoped to get out of one of their three potential starters when the season began. Lankinen’s .916 save percentage and 2.85 GAA rank him 17th and 27th in the league in the categories amongst 54 goalies who have played nine or more games this season. He has just one win in his last five starts (1-3-1) and gave up nine goals over his last two starts against Tampa Bay on March 4th and 7th.
•  Patrick Kane is one of three players to have hit the 40-point mark this season. He’s third in the NHL in scoring with 42 points in 30 games, sitting behind Leon Draisaitl with 49 points and Connor McDavid with 56 points. Kane ranks tied for second in the NHL in even-strength points (28) and is playing the fifth-most minutes per game (21:59) among all NHL forwards. He has 11 points in his last eight games, including taking a three-game points streak into this mini-series against the Lightning.
•  The Blackhawks could use their young players getting back to their old-forms where the rookies were able to pull a bit of a larger portion of the rope. Pius Suter and Philipp Kurashev were once both in the top-five of rookie points, but have since both fallen behind in production with Suter tied for fifth in scoring and Kurashev tied for seventh. The Blackhawks still lead the NHL in goals (22) and points (46) coming from rookies this season.
Puck Drops and Broadcast Info
•  Thursday, March 18 at 6:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, SUN, ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720 AM / TUDN 1200-AM
•  Saturday, March 20 at 3:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, SUN,
Radio: WGN 720 AM / TUDN 1200-AM
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (14-11-5, 33 pts)
DeBrincat – Suter – Kane
KubalÃk – Kämpf – Hagel
Janmark – Söderberg – Kurashev
Highmore – Wallmark – Carpenter
Keith – Boqvist
Zadorov – Murphy
Mitchell – de Haan
Lankinen
Subban
Lightning (20-6-2, 42 pts)Â
Palat – Cirelli – Point
Killorn – Gourde – Stamkos
Goodrow – Johnson – Coleman
Maroon – Joseph – Volkov
Hedman – Cernak
McDonagh – Schenn
Sergachev – Foote
Vasilevskiy
McElhinney
Tale of the Tape
Powerplay
Blackhawks: 28.3% (4th)
Lightning: 28.4% (3rd)
Penalty-Kill
Blackhawks: 73.1% (27th)
Lightning: 85.3% (5th)
Faceoffs
Blackhawks: 46.1% (28th)
Lightning: 49.7% (18th)
Goals Per Game
Blackhawks: 3.00 (15th)
Lightning: 3.61 (1st)
Goals Against Per Game
Blackhawks: 3.20 (22nd)
Lightning: 2.36 (4th)
Top Scorer
Blackhawks: Patrick Kane – 11 goals, 23 assists, 34 points
Lightning: Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, and Victor Hedman – tied with 27 points each
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
Brent Seabrook (LTIR – Retirement)
Zack Smith (LTIR – Back)
Andrew Shaw (LTIR – Concussion)
Kirby Dach (LTIR – Wrist)
Alex Nylander (LTIR – Knee)
Jonathan Toews (LTIR – Illness)
Dylan Strome (IR – Concussion)
Lightning:
Nikita Kucherov (LTIR – Hip Surgery)
Anders Nilsson (LTIR – Concussion)
Marián GáborÃk (LTIR – Indefinite)
Mitchell Stephens (LTIR – Indefinite)
Keep An Eye Out For
Blackhawks Blowing Leads. If they are able to get out to a lead over the Lightning in this series, pay attention to how the Blackhawks respond to being ahead. Lately, the results haven’t been positive as Chicago has blown seven of their last nine multi-goals leads (excluding empty-net goals) since February 1st. Chicago has also lost their last two games in-a-row in which they scored the first goal of the game. They are 10-3-2 this season when scoring the game’s opening tally.
Hot Russian Goalies. The Blackhawks go from facing one hot goalie in Florida against the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky, to another hot Florida goalie in Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy. For the Lighting, Vasilevskiy has won 15 of his last 17 starts (15-2-0), including winning his last nine starts in-a-row. But it hasn’t always been pretty for the Vezina-front runner as Vasilevskiy has allowed three goals in each of his last four starts and has a .885 save percentage over that span.
