NEWSLETTER
Following a three-day break, the Blackhawks will welcome the Oilers to the United Center on Thursday night, before entering a stretch of three-games-in-four-days, including a trip to Philly and an evening tilt with the Lightning.
This week’s slate of games features three of the most lethal scorers in the NHL in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Sten Stamkos.
Both McDavid and Draisaitl will be at the United Center on Thursday night when the Blackhawks host the Oilers. https://t.co/GYAtZqRHBJ
— Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers) February 28, 2022
Puck Drops and Broadcast Info
• Blackhawks vs. Oilers— Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: TNT
Radio: WGN 720 AM
• Blackhawks at Flyers — Saturday, March 5 at 2:00 p.m. CT
TV: ABC, ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720 AM
• Blackhawks vs. Lightning — Sunday, March 6 at 6:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH+
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Blackhawks Expected Lines
Blackhawks (19-27-8, 46 points)
DeBrincat – Strome – Kane
Hagel – Dach – Lafferty
Kurashev – Slavin – Kubalík
Borgström – Carpenter – Entwistle
de Haan – S. Jones
McCabe – Murphy
C. Jones – Gustafsson
Fleury
Lankinen
Blackhawks Injury Report
Calvin de Haan (Day-to-Day – Undisclosed)
Tyler Johnson (Day-to-Day – Neck)
Jonathan Toews (IR – Concussion)
Riley Stillman (IR – Shoulder)
Reese Johnson (IR – Collarbone)
Jujhar Khaira (IR – Back)
Blackhawks Tale of the Tape
Powerplay
20.4% (16th)
Penalty-Kill
75.3% (29th)
Faceoffs
48.6% (19th)
Goals Per Game
2.43 (30th)
Goals Against Per Game
3.39 (24th)
Top Scorers
Patrick Kane: 53 PTS (16 G, 37 A)
Alex DeBrincat: 45 PTS (29 G, 16 A)
Seth Jones: 34 PTS (3 G, 31 A)
Meet the Opponents
Edmonton Oilers (29-21-3, 61 points)
• Powerplay: 26.5% (3rd)
• Penalty-Kill: 76.4% (26th)
• Faceoffs: 51.9% (7th)
• Goals Per Game: 3.26 (9th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 3.23 (23rd)
• Top Scorers: Connor McDavid – 75 points (28 G, 47 A), Leon Draisaitl – 74 points (36 G, 38 A), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 37 points (7 G, 30 A)
Alex DeBrincat logged a three-point night, and Marc-André Fleury was stellar as the Blackhawks topped the Oilers in Edmonton. #Blackhawks https://t.co/kcmwcjwNqJ
— Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers) February 10, 2022
Projected Lines
Foegele – McDavid – Hyman
Kane – Draisaitl – Sceviour
McLeod – Shore – Ryan
Benson – Perlini – Broberg
Nurse – Barrie
Laggeson – Ceci
Niemelainan – Bouchard
Smith
Koskinen
Injury Report
Kailer Yamamoto (Day-to-Day – Undisclosed)
Ryan Nugget-Hopkins (Day-to-Day – Upper Body)
Kris Russell (IR – Undisclosed)
Kyle Turris (IR – Undisclosed)
Duncan Keith (IR – Upper Body)
Jesse Puljujarvi (IR – Lower Body)
Josh Archibald (IR – Chest)
Zack Kassian (IR – Jaw)
Oscar Klefbom (IR – Shoulder)
Philadelphia Flyers (16-26-10, 42 points)
• Powerplay: 14.0% (30th)
• Penalty-Kill: 76.2% (27th)
• Faceoffs: 53.6% (5th)
• Goals Per Game: 2.52 (29th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 3.40 (25th)
• Top Scorers: Cam Atkinson – 39 points (18 G, 21 A), Claude Giroux – 39 points (17 G, 22 A), Travis Konecny – 31 points (8 G, 23 A)
Projected Lines
Farabee – Giroux – Atkinson
Lindblom – Laughton – Konecny
Van Riemsdyk – Brassard – Mayhew
Ratcliffe – Brown – MacEwen
Provorov – Braun
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Yandle – Seeler
Hart
Jones
Injury Report
Nate Thompson (IR – Shoulder)
Kevin Hayes (Day-to-Day – Lower Body)
Wade Allison (Day-to-Day – Knee)
Ryan Ellis (Day-to-Day – Lower Body)
Sean Couturier (IR – Back)
Ryan Fitzgerald (IR – Lower Body)
Samuel Morin (IR – Knee)
Tampa Bay Lightning (34-11-6, 74 points)
• Powerplay: 20.1% (17th)
• Penalty-Kill: 79.5% (17th)
• Faceoffs: 49.6% (16th)
• Goals Per Game: 3.43 (7th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 2.75 (10th)
• Top Scorers: Steven Stamkos – 59 points (25 G, 34 A), Victor Hedman – 51 points (11 G, 40 A), Alex Killorn – 45 points (16 G, 29 A)
Projected Lines
Palat – Point – Kucherov
Killorn – Cirelli – Stamkos
Maroon – Bellemare – Perry
Raddysh – Colton – Joseph
Hedman – Rutta
McDonagh – Cernak
Sergachev – Foote
Vasilevskiy
Elliot
Injury Report
Zach Bogosian (Day-to-Day – Lower Body)
Erik Cernak (Day-to-Day – Undisclosed)
One-Timers
• The Blackhawks will have their hands full this week with two of the NHL’s top-scoring teams coming into town. The Lightning are 7th in the NHL in scoring (3.43 goals per game), and the Oilers are 9th (3.26 goals per game). Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl enter the week with a combined 147 points, and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos has 59 points at the start of the week. Victor Hedman checks in with 51 points for the Lightning as well, so that’s four 50-point scorers coming to town this weekend.
• If I were a betting man, I would imagine that Marc-André Fleury will get the nod on Thursday and Sunday against the high-powered Oilers and Lightning, with Kevin Lankinen getting the start on Saturday night in Philly.
• Patrick Kane has logged 11 points (five goals and six assists) in his last eight games.
• Kirby Dach took six shots on Sunday. I wrote a bit about the young forward finding confidence in shooting the puck again being a must down the stretch this season:
A GM Decision Expected this Week? Building Dach’s Confidence, and Other Blackhawks Bulletshttps://t.co/ZmGbnYaaMa pic.twitter.com/AqJPfQARbe
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 28, 2022
• Saturday night’s contest with the Flyers will be the first meeting with Philly since October 24, 2019. The Flyers have won the last five meetings between the two teams, and the Blackhawks haven’t beat the Flyers in Philadelphia since Patrick Kane’s walk-off overtime winner in game six of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. The last time the Blackhawks beat the Flyers in Philadelphia during the regular season was November 9, 1996. Gary Suter, Eric Daze, Murray Craven, John LeClair, and Tony Amonte scored for the Blackhawks in a 4-1 victory, and Jeff Hackett made 33 saves against 34 Philadelphia shots on goal.
• Be sure to check out the updated COVID-19 procedures at the United Center if you plan on attending a game this week!
No more mask requirement at the United Center starting with Blackhawks-Oilers on Thursday:https://t.co/d8zmksLPNA
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 28, 2022
