NEWSLETTER
For the third time in two weeks, the Blackhawks and Wild will face-off with Minnesota having won the previous two meetings this season. Chicago is 0-1-1 in those two contests, which is part of their recent stretch of play that has seen them lose six of their last seven games, going 1-5-1 in that span of time. This is the final game for both teams before the NHL All-Star break, with Chicago having an full week off before they next game on February 9. Alex DeBrincat, Cam Talbot, and Kirill Kaprizov are the three players in tonight’s game that will be playing for the Central Division at the NHL All-Star weekend.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 8:30 p.m. CT
TV: TNT
Radio: WGN 720 AM, TUDN 1200 AM (Spanish)
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (16-22-7)
DeBrincat — Strome — Kane
Hagel — Dach — Kurashev
Kubalík — Borgström — Lafferty
Connolly — Carpenter — Entwistle
de Haan — S. Jones
McCabe — Murphy
Kalynuk — Gustafsson
Fleury
Wild (27-10-3)
Kaprizov – Hartman – Zuccarello
Greenway – Eriksson Ek – Duhaime
Boldy – Gaudreau – Fiala
Dewar – Strum — Rask
Goligoski — Spurgeon
Brodin – Benn
Kulikov – Merrill
Talbot
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
Tyler Johnson (Three Months – Neck Surgery)
Kevin Lankinen (Day-to-Day – Hand)
Jonathan Toews (Day-to-Day – Concussion Protocol)
Riley Stillman (IR – Upper Body)
Reese Johnson (IR – Broken Clavicle)
Jujhar Khaira (IR – Back Spasms)
Wild:
Matt Dumba (Day-to-Day — Upper Body)
Marcus Foligno (Day-to-Day — Upper Body)
Nick Bjugstad (Day-to-Day – Upper Body)
What To Watch For
• Slow starts have doomed the Blackhawks all season and it came to a head on Monday night when Chicago was flat for a full 60-minute effort against the Canucks. Tonight is the final game for a week for Chicago as the NHL All-Star break is here. Hopefully we don’t get an effort like Monday night, with the undertone of “let’s just get this over with.” Chicago has the fourth-worst goal differential (-19) in the NHL in first periods this season.
• Marc-André Fleury makes his 13th start in Chicago’s last 14 games. With Kevin Lankinen injured, Fleury has been the go-to net-minder for the Blackhawks. He’s 5-5-3 in those 13 games, with a .905 save-percentage and a 2.86 GAA. The Blackhawks have scored an average of 2.65 goal per game in his 13 starts.
• Minnesota is second in point-percentage (.850) in the NHL since January 1, second only to the Colorado Avalanche. Minnesota is 8-1-1 in their last ten games since the start of the new year, recording a point in their last nine games in-a-row. They are scoring the third-most goals per game (4.30) in the league since January 1.
Get Caught Up
Marc-Andre Fleury is the Blackhawks’ first goalie off. Tonight would be his 13th start in the last 14 games.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 2, 2022
Blackhawks injury updates:
– Still no timeline for Toews' concussion
– Tyler Johnson estimated to return in March
– Reese Johnson estimated to return in February
– Lankinen could start facing shots again around Feb. 15— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 2, 2022
Kirill Kaprizov, set to make his first #NHLAllStar appearance, enters tonight two assists shy of 60 on his career (45-58—103 in 94 GP) and can require the fewest games in @mnwild history to reach the mark. #NHLStats
📺: CHI vs. MIN 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT, TVAS pic.twitter.com/m1rnKhJVr0
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 2, 2022
Happy National Girls and Women in Sports day! A special shoutout to the women in our organization for everything they do for our team and the game. #NGWSD pic.twitter.com/sOKXTK4Eyf
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 2, 2022
