Day Two, Game Two. Get the coffee ready for another late-night puck drop, this time from fabulous Las Vegas. After battling Nathan MacKinnon and the defending champs last night, the Hawks get a look at Jack Eichel and the Golden Knights tonight. Because, you know, why make things any easier to begin what should be a tough season. Maybe tonight they’ll stay out of the penalty box?
The last time these two teams played was April 27, and this Tyler Johnson goal in the shootout officially eliminated Vegas from the postseason.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 9:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks (0-1-0)
Andreas Athanasiou — Max Domi — Patrick Kane
Tyler Johnson — Jonathan Toews — Taylor Raddysh
Philipp Kurashev — Sam Lafferty — MacKenzie Entwistle
Colin Blackwell — Jujhar Khaira — Reese Johnson
Jack Johnson — Seth Jones
Jarred Tinordi — Connor Murphy
Filip Roos — Caleb Jones
Alex Stalock
Vegas Golden Knights (1-0-0)
Reilly Smith – Jack Eichel – Phil Kessel
Brett Howden – Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Paul Cotter
William Carrier – Nic Roy – Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez – Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Nic Hague – Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Injury Report
Chicago Blackhawks
Still no Boris Katchouk or Jake McCabe. Caleb Jones is back.
Vegas Golden Knights
Robin Lehner is out of the year. Patrick Nolan is also on IR to start the season.
What to Watch For
Vegas was credited with 51(!!!) shots on net when they beat the Kings in their first game of the season on Tuesday night. Eichel and Marchessault were each credited with seven shots on net in their first game of the new campaign and Reilly Smith was credited with six. Marchessault also led Vegas with five credited hits.
The Blackhawks put a whopping 17 shots on net and lost in Denver last night. However, Toews looked like a man on a mission and Domi got on the score sheet as well. The Blackhawks will need to stay out of the penalty box to compete against a potent offense. Buddy Robinson and Alec Regula will be scratches tonight with Caleb Jones returning and Reese Johnson drawing in. And yes, we need to use first names because there are two Jones and about 27 Johnsons on the Blackhawks’ roster.