NEWSLETTER
After blowing a huge opportunity to gain ground in the Central Division playoff race on Thursday night, the Chicago Blackhawks, again, MUST WIN tonight over the Detroit Red Wings in their final matchup of the season. Chicago has 12 games remaining this season with nine of them coming against teams that are in the top four playoff spots in the Central Division. They trail the Nashville Predators by four points still in the standings, but the Dallas Stars closed the gap between them and Chicago to just one-point with a win on Thursday night. All three teams are in action tonight, so another possible night of big movement is on the table and all to more reason why the Blackhawks need to come away with two points tonight.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 6:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH+, BSDET
Radio: WGN 720 AM / TUDN 1200 AM
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (20-19-5, 45 pts)
DeBrincat – Dach – Strome
Hagel – Suter – Kane
Kubalík – Kurashev – Hinostroza
Connolly – Kämpf – Carpenter
Keith – Kalynuk
Zadorov – Murphy
Stillman – Mitchell
Subban
Delia
Red Wings (16-23-6, 38 pts)
Larkin – Zadina
Vrana – Rasmussen – Filppula
Panik – Namestnikov – Gagner
Erne – Glendening – Helm
Cholowski – Hronek
Staal – Stetcher
DeKeyser – Lindstrom
Biega
Bernier
Griess
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
Calvin de Haan (Day-to-day – Hip)
Adam Boqvist (Day-to-day – Concussion)
Brent Seabrook (LTIR – Retirement)
Zack Smith (LTIR – Back)
Andrew Shaw (LTIR – Concussion)
Alex Nylander (LTIR – Knee)
Jonathan Toews (LTIR – Illness)
Red Wings:
Henrik Zetterberg (IR – Retired)
Tyler Bertuzzi (IR – Upper Body)
Robby Fabbri (Day-to-day – Upper Body)
Bobby Ryan (Out for season – Upper Body)
What To Watch For
• Malcolm Subban gets the start tonight for the Blackhawks, his first game since March 28th against Nashville Predators. Subban is 4-5-1 this season in ten starts with a .903 save-percentage and a 3.14 GAA. Kevin Lankinen, who had started 17 of the last 20 games for the Blackhawks, get the night off and Collin Delia will be the backup to Subban. Delia has not dressed for the Blackhawks since early February.
• Over Chicago’s last ten games, they has just three powerplay goals on 31 chances (9.7%) and ranks 25th in the NHL. Over the same ten game stretch of the season since March 27th, the Blackhawks have the fewest number of times being short-handed (11) in the league, but the 26th-ranked penalty-kill at just 72.7%.
• Alex DeBrincat had an assist on Thursday and has six points over his last five games. The Michigan native has a point in ten of 13 career games against the Red Wings and his 19 points are his most against any NHL opponent in his career.
Get Caught Up …
Subban will start tonight. Delia will back up. Colliton says it was always planned for Lankinen to rest today.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) April 17, 2021
Colliton on Kane's slump: "He’s going through a stretch where he's not converting. I think [he's shooting] 4.5% percent over the last stretch. That’s not going to carry on… We've got some big games coming up, so it’d be a good time for that shooting percentage to even out."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2021
Kubalik on the Blackhawks' struggling PP: "We just need to get one. Maybe it’s going to start with a bad bounce or something. We’re trying some new things, so hopefully it’ll work."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2021
Stan Bowman on PP struggles: "As a powerplay, you start to recognize team's taking away what you do best. You have to adapt and make some modifications. It's not something that can happen overnight."@ESPNHockeyShow #Blackhawks
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) April 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/status/1383425850956140552?s=20
