The Flower is back in the building tonight as Marc-Andrรฉ Fleury and the Minnesota visit the Blackhawks this evening. The Blackhawks will look to rebound after a tough loss to the Buffalo Sabres in which they coughed up a two-goal lead down the stretch.
The big news of the day though is the loss of defenseman Seth Jones who will miss 3-4 weeks with a broken thumb.
Luke Richardson told us that Jones broke his thumb blocking a shot during the second period of last night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres. You can read about Richardson’s reaction on the news and immediate plans here:
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 6:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks (4-3-1)
Andreas Athanasiou โ Max Domi โ Patrick Kane
Philipp Kurashev โ Jonathan Toews โ Taylor Raddysh
Colin Blackwell โ Jason Dickinson โ Sam Lafferty
Boris Katchouk โ MacKenzie Entwistle โ Reese Johnson
Jake McCabe โ Jack Johnson
Jarred Tinordi โ Connor Murphy
Filip Roos โ Caleb Jones
Alex Stalock
Minnesota Wild (3-4-1)
Kirill Kaprizov โ Frederick Gaudreau โ Mats Zuccarello
Tyson Jost โ Marco Rossi โ Matthew Boldy
Brandon Duhaime โ Joel Eriksson Ek โ Ryan Hartman
Mason Shaw โ Sam Steel โ Connor Dewar
Jacob Middleton โ Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin โ Calen Addison
John Merrill โ Mathew Dumba
Marc-Andrรฉ Fleury
Injury Report
Chicago Blackhawks
Petr Mrazek wonโt play again (groin — heโs on IR). Tyler Johnson landed on IR on Thursday.
Minnesota Wild
Left winger Jordan Greenway is expected to be out until early November with an upper-body injury. Marcus Foligno was scratched ahead of tonight’s game with an upper-body injury that will be evaluated further when the team returns to Minnesota.
What to Watch For
- Alex Stalock — a Minnesota native — will get the start against his hometown and former team, the Minnesota Wild, this evening after getting the first half of the back-to-back off last night in Buffalo. Stalock played 89 games for the Wild over four seasons and owned a 2.77 GAA and a .908 save percentage in a Wild sweater. Stalock is 3-2-0 with a 3.00 GAA and a .913 save percentage in five appearances with the Blackhawks this season.
- The Blackhawks are tied for seventh in the NHL in scoring with 3.50 goals per contest through the first eight games of the season. The Wild are 28th in the NHL this season in goals allowed per contest (3.38), so the Blackhawks have a good opportunity to continue their scoring tonight at the United Center.
- The Blackhawks lead the NHL in face-off win percentage (59.4%). Max Domi was 12-of-14 at the dot in last night’s loss in Buffalo and is the team leader with a 68.6 face-off win rate. Jonathan Toews won 13-of-18 face-offs last night and checks in with a 62.4 percent win rate this season, second to only Domi.