On Saturday night, the Chicago Blackhawks are going to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the United Center. This will be the final game of “The Originalsâ€, the first of four chapters celebrating their centennial season.
A ceremony will precede the game. The Blackhawks are encouraging fans to be in their seat at 5:30 to make sure they donâ€t miss a thing. Pat Foley is going to host the ceremony, which will celebrate the early days of the franchise.
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At 3:30 PM, the Atrium will open and include exhibits that show displays that include tributes to the original days of the Chicago Blackhawks. At 4:45 in the Atrium, Darren Pang will host a Q&A with Blackhawks alumni.
Fans can enter the United Center at 4:30. The first 8000 fans will receive a Tony Esposito bobblehead. There will be no shortage of Blackhawks-related things to do ahead of this Original Six matchup.
On the ice, the 8-5-4 Blackhawks will take on the 8-8-2 Maple Leafs in a battle of two franchises seemingly headed in opposite directions.
Scouting Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to their worst start in a decade. Since they built up the core that has made them contenders, they have never had only 8 wins in their first 18 games.
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Their captain and superstar, Auston Matthews, will be missing due to an injury. Both of their goalies, in addition to Matthews, have also been unavailable in recent games.
Knies-Tavares-Nylander
Robertson-Domi-McMann
Joshua-Roy-Naccelli
Blais-Lorentz-Jarnkrok
Rielly-Carlo
Benoit-McCabe
Ekman Larsson- Mermis
Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo missed practice on Friday for maintenance, but they are expected to play. These are the lines they fit in on during Thursday’s game. Easton Cowan was recalled from the Toronto Marlies and could draw into the lineup as well.
Joseph Woll has also been activated and should be the starting goalie against the Blackhawks.
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Projected Blackhawks Lines, Defense Pairs, and Starting Goalie
The Chicago Blackhawks have been dealing with injuries themselves, like every team. On Friday, Jason Dickinson, Frank Nazar, and Andre Burakovsky all returned to practice, but Tyler Bertuzzi was missing. Also, Nazar left early with some discomfort.
Frank Nazar, Jason Dickinson, & Andre Burakovsky All Returned To Blackhawks Practice
Spencer Knight was in the starter’s crease during the morning skate. Expect him to go against the Leafs on Saturday night. Knight has been one of the league’s best goalies so far this season, so Toronto has no easy path to getting back on track.
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In front of him, the lineup is projected to look as follows:
Bertuzzi-Bedard-Burakovsky
Teravainen-Greene-Mikheyev
Moore-Donato-Dach
Slaggert-Foligno-Lafferty
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Levshunov
Grzelcyk-Murphy
During their last game against the New Jersey Devils, Sam Rinzel was moved to the 7th defenseman role, while Louis Crevier moved up to the top pair in his place with Alex Vlasic. For this game against the Maple Leafs, Rinzel is going to take a seat and watch. A reset like this worked for Artyom Levshunov, and they are hoping for similar results for Rinzel. Matt Grzelcyk will take Rinzel’s spot on the second power play unit.
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Frank Nazar and Jason Dickinson both were at morning skate, but they skated as extras. Right now, Nazar is a game-time decision, and Dickinson will be out for another game.
Bertuzzi and Burakovsky are both back on the top line with Connor Bedard. Ryan Greene, who did a wonderful job in tough matchup situations against the Devils, will continue in his role as second-line center if Nazar is still out. Ilya Mikheyev and Teuvo Teravainen help him round out the top six.
For the first time since Chicago’s home opener, after 14 straight games with 11/7, Jeff Blashill is going to dress the traditional 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. The forward scratched will be determined by Nazar’s availability at the start of the game. If Nazar is good to go, one of Landon Slaggert or Sam Lafferty is the likely candidate, even though they both scored last game.
Connor Bedard is looking to make it 10 straight games with a point, which would be a career high for him in terms of a point streak.
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How To Watch
Fans in the Chicagoland area can find the game on CHSN. As part of Hockey Night in Canada, this game can be found on Sportsnet north of the border. The puck will drop shortly after 6 PM CT.
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