The Chicago Blackhawks have been outscored 11-2 over their last two games. Naturally, they earned two regulation losses over the stretch, which has lowered the vibes surrounding the team. It is an incredibly young group, one of the youngest in NHL history, but that isn’t an excuse for how lousy they’ve been lately.
On Sunday, the Blackhawks are going to take on the New Jersey Devils, who have had one of the most up-and-down seasons in recent NHL memory. Like most of the teams on the outside looking into the Eastern Conference playoff picture, New Jersey will have a winning season, but their playoff chances are in the tank because of a bad stretch in the middle.
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Scouting New Jersey
The New Jersey Devils have been better since the end of the Olympic break. It hasn’t been perfect, and there are issues to work on in the offseason, but the Blackhawks will find themselves embarrassed if they treat this like a getaway game to end the road trip.
New Jersey’s tailspin happened partially because of the injury sustained by Jack Hughes when they visited Chicago back in November. It was an off-ice injury where he cut his hand while out to dinner. He is one of the top-flight forwards in the NHL, and they proved unable to win at a high clip without him.
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
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Bratt – Hughes – Brown
Dadonov – Glass – Hameenaho
Cotter – Bjugstad – Tsyplakov
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Hughes – Kovacevic
Dillon – Nemec
Allen
Down the middle, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes are one of the top duos in the entire National Hockey League. Hischier is more of a two-way centerman who emphasizes both sides of the ice, while Hughes is focused on scoring goals and setting them up.
Hughes, of course, scored the Golden Goal in overtime against Canada in Milano Cortina to win the United States their first Gold Medal in 46 years. Since then, he’s been one of the hottest players in the NHL.
His younger brother Luke is one of their top puck-moving defensemen, and he will play in the middle of a solid defense in front of goaltender Jake Allen. New Jersey lost to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday with Jacob Markstrom in the net, so it will be Allen against the Blackhawks.
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In addition to Hughes and Hischier up front, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier round out their “big four”, which has been a dangerous group in the second half of the season. For a Blackhawks team that has given up a lot of offense in recent weeks, this will be another huge test.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks had to call up Kevin Korchinski on Sunday morning, because imaging revealed that Artyom Levshunov has a fracture in his left wrist. The belief is that he played through it for a couple of games, and now they know for sure he needs to be out. His timeline is TBD.
Jeff Blashill also confirmed, without giving too many details, and it was hard to describe the lines during the morning skate, that Anton Frondell would move to center. This gives the Blackhawks time to see him play that position now rather than next year when they may be trying to win.
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Greene – Bedard – Lardis
Bertuzzi – Frondell – Nazar
Burakovsky – Donato – Mikheyev
Teravainen – Boisvert – Slaggert
Vlasic – Crevier
Kaiser – Rinzel
Korchinski – Del Mastro
Knight
These are simply projections based on moving Frondell into a center role. The top six will see some changes as a result, but the bottom six may stay the same as in the last two games. The defense pairs, with Korchinski in there, are how they skated in the morning.
Spencer Knight is going to start in goal for Chicago. Giving up five on Thursday was hardly all his fault based on the team’s play in front of him, but he is looking to bounce back as well. With Jack Hughes and company playing the way they have recently, the Blackhawks need Knight to be extraordinary if they want to win.
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How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be found on CHSN locally. Nationally, it is available to stream on ESPN+ and NHL Network. The puck will drop shortly after 6:00 PM CT.
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