After three straight wins against the Sharks, Red Wings and Kraken, it gets real this week for the Blackhawks. Those three teams have a long climb if they hope to make the playoffs this year (or in the future). Tonight, the Blackhawks welcome the Florida Panthers to the United Center. They have a new head coach — some people call him (Paul) Maurice — who Hawks fans know well from his long tenure in Winnipeg and a few new faces on the ice but the core remains from last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winning team.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks (3-2-0)
Andreas Athanasiou — Max Domi — Patrick Kane
Tyler Johnson — Jonathan Toews — Taylor Raddysh
Philipp Kurashev — Jason Dickinson — Sam Lafferty
Jujhar Khaira — MacKenzie Entwistle — Colin Blackwell
Jack Johnson — Seth Jones
Jarred Tinordi — Connor Murphy
Jake McCabe — Caleb Jones
Alex Stalock
Florida Panthers (4-1-1)
Maurice said no lineup changes outside of Bob, so the lines should look like this tonight:
Verhaeghe – Barkov – Reinhart
Balcers – Bennett – Tkachuk
Luostarinen – Lundell – White
Lomberg – Cousins – Hornqvist
Forsling – Montour
Mahura – Gudas
Kiersted – Staal
Bob
Knight— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) October 25, 2022
Injury Report
Chicago Blackhawks
Petr Mrazek won’t play this week (he’s on IR). It looks like Boris Katchouk is close to returning.
Florida Panthers
Aaron Ekblad is out (LTIR) and former Blackhawks forward Anthony Duclair is also out (IR).
What to Watch For
Get Caught Up
Refs Kelly Sutherland and Justin Kea work #TimeToHunt #Blackhawks with Tyson Baker and Shandor Alphonso https://t.co/uVM6moVxYX #FLA #CHI #FLAvsCHI #FlaPanthers #Hawks #NHL pic.twitter.com/1YW1XOVVBJ— Scouting The Refs (@ScoutingTheRefs) October 25, 2022
Should We Be Happy the #Blackhawks Are Winning?https://t.co/LPhfgUoQ3I pic.twitter.com/vpXhym1YqJ
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 24, 2022
One Timers: Blackhawks Feeling the Good Vibes, Aggressive Penalty Kill, No Goals for Kane, Morehttps://t.co/YIxKHy7yS4 pic.twitter.com/3w7E7BoNny— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 24, 2022
The Panthers and center Eric Staal agreed to terms on a one-year, one-way deal worth $750,000 on Friday, according to multiple reports.
Staal, 37, didn’t appear in any NHL games during the 2021-22 season.https://t.co/dly8wUNv6o— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) October 21, 2022
Panthers’ defenseman Aaron Ekblad is going on the long-term injured reserve, GM Bill Zito announced.
Ekblad is dealing with a Grade 2 groin strain, per multiple reports.https://t.co/0vzIxYMx9d— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) October 19, 2022
