Blackhawks Game Day Preview: Second line looks to bounce back against Canucks

Chicago Blackhawks (2-3-1, 5 pts) vs Vancouver Canucks (2-1-2, 6 pts)
7:15 pm CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray), 1200 AM LMN (Esparza/Moreno)

The Chicago Blackhawks look to get back into the win column as they host the Vancouver Canucks for the only time this season. The reigning Pacific Division champions are on their current road trip’s fourth and final stop. They have won back-to-back games at the Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers.

Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson has scratched Philipp Kurashev for tonight’s game. Richardson said on Monday that he’d gotten used to counting on Kurashev to play the right way and that he can’t continue to play like he did against the Buffalo Sabres. Sitting out tonight will serve as a wake-up call. Pat Maroon will return to the lineup after missing Saturday’s game. Petr Mrazek will start in goal.

On the injury front, goaltender Laurent Brossiot and defenseman Alec Martinez skated ahead of practice. Richardson said he was “certain” Martinez will join the team on the upcoming road trip, which begins on Saturday in Dallas. Artyom Levshunov stayed on the ice throughout morning skate and met with the media after practice, where he confirmed he had fractures in his foot. There is still no timetable for when he will be removed from injured reserve and head to the Rockford IceHogs.

Tonight will be Ilya Mikheyev’s first game against the Canucks since they traded him to Chicago in the offseason. He had 24 goals and 59 points in 124 games for Vancouver. Connor Bedard will play his second game against the team he grew up cheering for. He had two helpers in only his game against the Canucks last season.

Vancouver is riding a five-game winning streak against the Blackhawks and has won nine out of the last 10 meetings. Center J.T. Miller has been dealing with an undisclosed injury. He took part in the Canucks’ optional morning skate, and head coach Rick Tocchet sounded confident that he would play tonight. Former Blackhawks netminder Kevin Lankinen will start in goal for the Canucks.

Season Series

10/22 vs VAN
11/16 @ VAN
3/15 @ VAN

Quotables 

“I’m excited for every game. It is cool growing up and being part of the team and cheering for Dickie when he was there four years ago. My parents and sister have fun watching it, but for me, it’s any other game.”

Bedard on playing against his hometown team.

“Last game wasn’t a great game from all of them. They know that. I expect them to be really good. Kurashev is out tonight, but the other two guys must be better.”

Richardson on his expectations for the second line.

“I’m comfortable with this team, even last year, on those last games of a long road trip. I’m pretty sure we’ve had some really good games. Sometimes, you are concerned about that last game on a road trip, but, for the most part, I’ve really respected the game plans of the players and their mindsets. They’re not just like ‘Hey, let’s get home.” They know that there’s work to be done tonight against a good team”

Tocchet on the last game of road trip.

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Teuvo Teravainen/Nick Foligno (3)
A-Connor Bedard (6)
P-Teravainen/Bedard (7)
PPG-Teravainen (2)
SOG-Seth Jones (21)
PIM-Pat Maroon (14)

Canucks Team Leaders

G-Brock Boeser (3)
A-Jake DeBrusk (4)
P-Boeser (5)
PPG-Boeser/Conor Garland/Daniel Sprong (1)
SOG- Quinn Hughes (17)
PIM-DeBrusk/Tyler Myers (6)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.50 (27^th)
GA/G-3.00 (14^th)
PP%-29.4 (6^th)
PK%-87.5(6^th)
SOG/G-28.0 (21^st)
SA/G-28.5 (14^th)
FO%-45.9 (30^th)
PIM/G-8:30 (18^th)

Canucks Team Stats

GF/G-2.80 (23^rd)
GA/G-2.80 (10^th)
PP%-18.8 (17^th)
PK%-81.3 (14^th)
SOG/G-27.6 (8^th)
SA/G-29.3 (16^th)
FO%-53.0 (7th)
PIM/G-10:48 (9^th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Nick Foligno-Connor Bedard-Teuvo Teravainen
Taylor Hall- Andreas Athanasiou -Tyler Bertuzzi
Ilya Mikheyev-Jason Dickinson-Ryan Donato
Pat Maroon-Lukas Reichel-Craig Smith

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Seth Jones
Wyatt Kaiser-Connor Murphy
Nolan Allan-T.J. Brodie

Scratched:
D-Isaak Phillips, F-Philipp Kurashev, F-Joey Anderson

Injured:
D-Alec Martinez (lower body), G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), D-Artyom Levshunov (foot)

Canucks Probable Lines

Forwards
Jake DeBrusk-JT Miller-Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander-Elias Pettersson-Conor Garland
Danton Heinen-Teddy Blueger-Kiefer Sherwood
Pius Suter-Nils Aman-Daniel Sprong

Defensemen
Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy-Tyler Myers
Erik Brannstrom-Vincent Desharnais

Scratched
F-Arshdeep Bains, D-Noah Juulsen

Injured
D-Derek Forbot (personal reasons), F-Dakota Joshua (testicular cancer), G-Thatcher Demko (knee)

Goaltending Matchup

Petr Mrazek (2-2-0, .911 SV%, 2.53 GAA, 0 SO) vs Kevin Lankinen (2-0-1, .953 SV%, 1.28 GAA, 1 SO)

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