Blackhawks Game Day Preview: Revenge on the mind with Islanders in town

Chicago Blackhawks (9-19-2, 20 pts) vs New York Islanders (12-12-7, 31 pts)
2 pm CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray)

The Chicago Blackhawks return home today to host the New York Islanders, who beat the Blackhawks 5-4 on Thursday. The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 heading into the third period before giving up three goals in just over two minutes. They stormed back with three goals of their own but could not complete the comeback.

The Islanders will look much different from what we saw on Thursday. Bo Horvat suffered a lower-body injury during the game and is unlikely to play today, even though he traveled with the team. Mathew Barzal is considered a game-time decision after participating in Saturday’s practice with no restrictions. He’s been out since Oct. 30 with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Adam Pelech will return to New York’s blue line today. He’s missed the last 20 games after taking a puck to the face against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 1. Oliver Walhstrom, who played against the Blackhawks on Thursday, was claimed off waivers by the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

The Blackhawks will look to improve in the third period. After giving up three goals in 2:11 to the Islanders on Thursday, they gave up three third-period goals in 2:06 to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Captain Nick Foligno will miss today’s game due to illness. Wyatt Kaiser will be scratched for a “reset,” with Louis Crevier drawing back in.

Season Series

12/12 4-5 @ NYI
12/15 vs NYI

Quotables

“It’s one of those things where you’ve got to mitigate the mistakes. When they happen, it should be once, and we move on. It seems like it happens, and then it happens again. We’re caving into ourselves. We’re feeling the pressure. We’re doing too much. We’re trying to do someone else’s job instead of trusting him to do his job.” Jason Dickinson

“Why are we getting so down after a goal? It’s the NHL; we’re not going to win every game 1-0. Teams are going to score; we do it to other teams. So, why are we so flustered after they score one on us? Now they’re coming in waves and we don’t know how to handle it. We have to reset. The next line goes out and do your job. It shouldn’t snowball. That’s how you fix it. You trust that the next line is going to go get the momentum back.” Nick Foligno

“We played well, especially at the end of the second period. Then we found a way again to shoot ourselves in the foot. We got pinned in. We had some puck management issues that led to goals against. We have to understand that the next shift (after a goal) is a big one. It’s something we have to address.” Anders Sorensen

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Ryan Donato (10)
A-Connor Bedard (18)
P-Connor Bedard (24)
PPG-Teuvo Teravainen (4)
SOG-Bedard (75)
PIM-Connor Murphy (32)

Islanders Team Leaders

G-Anders Lee (13)
A-Bo Horvat/Noah Dobson (14)
P-Lee (25)
PPG-Lee (3)
SOG-Lee (94)
PIM-Scott Mayfield (21)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.40 (31^st)
GA/G-3.20 (25^th)
PP%-23.1 (11^th)
PK%-83.7 (5^th)
SOG/G-25.6 (30^th)
SA/G-29.9 (25^th)
FO%-43.2 (31^st)
PIM/G-7:22 (10th)

Islanders Team Stats

GF/G-2.61 (25^th)
GA/G-3.00 (15^th)
PP%-12.8 (32^nd)
PK%-65.2 (32^nd)
SOG/G-27.9 (21^st)
SA/G-28.7 (18^th)
FO%-55.4 (1^st)
PIM/G-5:11 (1^st)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Philipp Kurashev-Connor Bedard-Ryan Donato
Taylor Hall-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teravainen-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Pat Maroon-Lukas Reichel-Joey Anderson

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Nolan Allan-Connor Murphy
Kevin Korchinski-T.J. Brodie

Scratched:
D-Wyatt Kaiser

Injured:
G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), D-Seth Jones (foot), G-Petr Mrazek (groin), Alec Martinez (neck), F-Craig Smith (back), F-Nick Foligno (illness)

Islanders Probable Lines

Forwards
Anders Lee-Mathew Barzal-J.G. Pageau
Maxim Tsyplakov-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Pierre Engvall-Kyle MacLean-Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching

Defensemen
Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Noah Dobson
Dennis Cholowski-Scott Mayfield

Scratched
D-Isaiah George, D-Grant Hutton

Injured
F-Bo Horvat (lower body), D-Mike Reilly (heart), F-Anthony Duclair (leg)

Goaltending Matchup

Arvid Soderblom (2-7-1, .908 SV%, 2.74 GAA, 0 SO) vs Ilya Sorokin (9-8-4, .910 SV%, 2.65 GAA, 1 SO)

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