The Blackhawks and Islanders both come into tonight’s game on the second night of back-to-back games. Chicago lost last night to the Rangers, while the Islanders lost in overtime to the Red Wings, their second overtime loss in-a-row and their tenth-straight loss overall. So, as you can imagine, I’m on very high alert for the Islanders coming out and having a “get right” game against the Blackhawks tonight. Chicago is 3-8-1 on the road this season, but New York has yet to win a game at their new UBS Arena home, going 0-4-1 so far this year.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, ESPN+ (Out of market)
Radio: WGN 720 AM, TUDN 1200 AM (Spanish)
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (8-13-2)
Hagel – Toews – Kane
DeBrincat – Dach – Strome
Kubalík – Borgström – R. Johnson
Hardman – Slavin – Carpenter
Khaira*
C. Jones – S. Jones
de Haan – Gustafsson
Stillman – Mitchell
Fleury
Islanders (5-10-4)
Lee – Barzal – Bailey
Bellows – Pageau – Palmieri
Beauvillier – Czarnik – Wahlstrom
Martin – Parise – Clutterbuck
Pelech – Mayfield
Greene – Dobson
Chara – Aho
Varlamov
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
MacKenzie Entwistle (Week-to-Week – Ankle)
Tyler Johnson (Three Months – Neck Surgery)
Jujhar Khaira (Day-to-Day – Non-COVID illness)
Connor Murphy (Day-to-Day – Concussion)
Islanders:
Casey Cizikas (Day-to-Day – COVID Protocol)
Brock Nelson (Day-to-Day – Lower Body)
Ryan PUlock (Week-to-Week – Lower Body)
What To Watch For
• Marc-André Fleury gets the start tonight for the Blackhawks in net. He is 6-9-0 this season with a .914 save-percentage and a 2.90 GAA. Over his last seven starts, Fleury is 5-2-0 and has a .947 save-percentage. In his career against the Islanders, Fleury holds a 26-12-6 record, a .918 save-percentage and five career shutouts.
• The Islanders are one of the two teams scoring fewer goals per game than the Blackhawks this season. Chicago is 30th in the NHL with just 2.13 goals per game this season, while New York is 31st at a 1.89 goal per game mark. Over their ten-game losing streak, the Islanders have scored just 11 goals and have been shutout three times.
• Seth Jones will likely be once again called upon to play nearly half of the game tonight for Chicago. With Connor Murphy out and Jake McCabe away from the team, Jones has been logging nearly 30-minutes per night over his last four games. Averaging a league-leading 29:10 minutes per game since November 26, Jones has three two-point games in his last four appearances for Chicago, including a goal and three assists in his last two games. Jones is tied for the team-lead in points (21) with Patrick Kane and is tied for third in the NHL in scoring for defensemen. Only Victor Hedman, John Carlson, Aaron Ekblad, and Adam Fox have more points this season.
Get Caught Up
Derek King says some family and friends will be in attendance tonight on the Island as he coaches against his longtime team as a player.
"I've got some buddies that will probably have my jersey on and screaming things and making me look like an idiot. It’ll be a little weird."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 5, 2021
Derek King on sending down Kalynuk instead of Mitchell:
"Mitchell played well and we’d like to see him a little more… [Kalynuk] can’t just sit around here in practice; he needs to go someplace and play. He’s going to get 3 games coming up there in Rockford."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 5, 2021
Trotz confirms Varlamov in net tonight for #Isles. May be a couple of game-time decisions.
Re: Cizikas. Hasn't heard that Casey has tested negative for COVID-19 yet. At this point, expecting him to be out the full 10 days.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) December 5, 2021
