NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks look to build off of their first win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night and hope to make Thursday night’s contest their second win over them this season. Chicago is 1-3-1 against the Panthers this season, but are coming off a gritty, hard-fought win in their previous meeting. Tonight could prove to look much like Tuesday night’s game with Aleksander Barkov out of the lineup for the Panthers. Although the trade-off is that with Barkov out, Sergei Bobrovsky enters the lineup in goal to replace Tuesday’s starter, Chris Driedger. Chicago is 10-3-2 in the second straight meeting against the same opponent this season, with two regulation losses against Florida and the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.
The Blackhawks enter the night with a two-point lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets and a four-point lead over the Nashville Predators for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division with all three teams having 23 games left to play. Including tonight’s matchup, 12 of the upcoming 15 games for the Blackhawks are against the four teams that are below them in the standings. After tonight, Chicago will not have to face either of the Lightning or Panthers again until the end of April.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, FS-South,
Radio: WGN 720 AM / TUDN 1200 AM
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (15-13-5, 35 pts)
DeBrincat – Suter – Kane
Kubalík – Kämpf – Hagel
Janmark – Carpenter – Strome
Highmore – Söderberg – Kurashev
de Haan – Boqvist
Keith – Murphy
Mitchell – Zadorov
Lankinen
Subban
Panthers (20-8-4, 44 pts)
Verhaeghe – Acciari – Duclair
Huberdeau – Wennberg – Hornqvist
Vatrano – Marchment – Tippett
Hinostroza – Lammikko – Connolly
Weegar – Ekblad
Yandle – Stralman
Forsling – Gudas
Bobrovsky
Driedger
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:
Noah Juulsen (IR – Undisclosed)
Aleksander Barkov (Day-to-Day – Lower Body)
Betting Odds
The Blackhawks are +1.5 point underdogs against the Panthers tonight, and find themselves at +110 on the moneyline according to the DraftKings Illinois Sportsbook. You can go right here to sign up and make a bet.
[bet-promo id=”166783″ ]
What To Watch For
• It appears that Jeremy Colliton will go with Kevin Lankinen in net again tonight. He made 33 of 35 saves on Tuesday night in Chicago’s 3-2 win over Florida. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Lankinen and helped get him out of a slump of just one win in his last six starts, prior to Tuesday. In 22 appearances this season, Lankinen has gone 11-7-4 with a .915 save percentage.
• The Blackhawks have allowed at least one powerplay goal in 12 of their last 15 games. Opponents are 18-for-44 (40.9%) on the man-advantage over that time. Chicago has seen their penalty-killing unit drop in the rankings since the beginning of March, now sitting in 28th in the NHL on the kill at 72.0% for the season.
• The Blackhawks upped their physicality on Tuesday night after a timid series against the Tampa Bay Lightning prior. On the Panthers side of things, Radko Gudas has been a wrecking ball all season and made an impact last game. He leads Florida and ranks second in the NHL with 149 hits. Gudas recorded a career-high 11 hits against the Blackhawks on Tuesday night, which stands as the most-ever by a Panther since the NHL started tracking hits during the 2005-06 season.
Get Caught Up …
The Hawks have lost the 1st and won the 2nd game in most series.
Will having won the 1st game affect motivation tonight?
Colliton: "Any of these 2-game series, it’s really hard to sweep. A lot of them end up split and that’s just the nature of sports. But…we need the points."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 25, 2021
"You look too far ahead, you get hit by a bus."
– Jeremy Colliton on facing Nashville and Columbus after #Blackhawks play Florida tonight— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) March 25, 2021
Optional morning skate today. Kirby Dach is one of the first players on the ice. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/fnT0q09U2w
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 25, 2021
Brandon Hagel has been on PP1 the last 2 games — his first PP time of his NHL career.
"I’m trying to help these guys get into the zone with my speed and get pucks to the guys. Last game it worked well. Hopefully we'll just keep building off it."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 25, 2021
