NEWSLETTER
Once more unto the breach, dear friends.
The Chicago Blackhawks return home to the United Center to begin a six-game homestand, and start off by facing the Florida Panthers. The good news is that this two-game set will be the last time the Blackhawks see the Panthers until the April 29th-May 1st series. Chicago is still searching for their first win of the season against the Panthers, having gone 0-3-1 in the four previous meetings. The Blackhawks enter this mini-series sitting in a tie for fourth-place in the Central Division based on points. (33) with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but hold the tiebreaker over Columbus based on points percentage (.516). The Panthers sit comfortably in third-place in the Division and are tied for fourth-place in the NHL in points (44).
One-Timers
•  The Blackhawks begin a six-game homestand with Tuesday night’s contest. It is the longest remaining stretch at home for the Blackhawks this season.
•  Patrick Kane was held off the score sheet for two consecutive games against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week. This was just the second time this season where Kane had not registered a point in back-to-back games. He has only one three-game stretch without registering a point over the past two and a half seasons, coming on October 22-26, 2019.
•  We all knew the stretch of schedule in March was going to be difficult for the Blackhawks and it has lived up to the worry. Chicago is 2-6-1 in March, allowing an average of 4.22 goals per game (28th in the NHL over that span) and only scoring 2.33 goals per game (26th in the NHL) in the month. On the flip side, the Panthers are scoring 3.64 goals per game in March, fifth in the league.
Puck Drops and Broadcast Info
•  Tuesday, March 23rd at 7:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, FS-South, ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720 AM / TUDN 1200 AM
•  Thursday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, FS-South
Radio: WGN 720 AM / TUDN 1200 AM
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (14-13-5, 33 pts)
DeBrincat – Kämpf – Kane
KubalÃk – Suter – Hagel
Janmark – Carpenter – Strome
Entwistle – Söderberg – Kurashev
de Haan – Boqvist
Keith – Murphy
Mitchell – Zadorov
Subban
Lankinen
Panthers (20-7-4, 44 pts)
Verhaeghe – Barkov – Duclair
Huberdeau – Wennberg – Hornqvist
Vatrano – Luostarinen – Tippett
Lomberg – Marchment – Acciari
Weegar – Ekblad
Yandle – Stralman
Forsling – Gudas
Bobrovsky
Driedger
Tale of the Tape
Powerplay
Blackhawks: 28.0% (3rd)
Panthers: 25.5% (8th)
Penalty-Kill
Blackhawks: 72.5% (28th)
Panthers: 81.0% (12th)
Faceoffs
Blackhawks: 46.1% (29th)
Panthers: 49.8% (19th)
Goals Per Game
Blackhawks: 2.91 (17th)
Panthers: 3.36 (5th)
Goals Against Per Game
Blackhawks: 3.25 (25th)
Panthers: 2.77 (14th)
Top Scorer
Blackhawks: Patrick Kane – 12 goals, 30 assists, 42 points
Panthers: Aleksander Barkov – 13 goals, 24 assists, 37 points
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)
Panthers:Â
Noah Juulsen (IR – Undisclosed)
Keep An Eye Out For
Bark-ing Up The Wrong Tree. Florida Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov has been tormenting the Blackhawks this season. In four meetings, Barkov has at least one point in every game against Chicago and a total of nine points this season. Barkov has registered 10 points over his last six games and leads the Panthers in scoring this season.
Meet Me In The Middle. Chicago has benefitted from super-human goaltending at different points this season, mostly early on in the year. Since the beginning of March, Kevin Lankinen and Malcolm Subban have fallen back to Earth, so to say, and are now looking more like league-average goaltenders and not Vezina-caliber ones. Since March 4th, Lankinen is 1-4-1 with a .887 save percentage and has allowed 22 goals over his last six starts. Subban is 1-2-0 since March 5th, dropping his last two starts and allowing 13 over that span. The Blackhawks’ team save percentage at five-on-five since March 1st is 24th in the NHL at .910.
