Puck Drop: Nov. 28, 7:30 PM CST
Chicago Blackhawks
Record: 12-9-2
Points: 26
Place: t-2nd in Central, t-4th in Western Conference
Power Play Percentage/Rank: 20%, 3rd in West, 9th in NHL
Penalty Kill Percentage/Rank: 83.3%, 7th in West, 11th in NHL
Blackhawks Team Statistics
vs.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Record: 10-11-2
Points: 22
Place: t-3rd in Southeast, t-11th in Eastern Conference
Power Play Percentage/Rank: 20.7%, 6th in East, 8th in NHL
Penalty Kill Percentage/Rank: 82.6%, 6th in East, 13th in NHL
Lightning Team Statistics
Offense
1st line: LW Williams – C Lang – RW Havlat
2nd line: LW Sharp – C Toews – RW Kane
3rd line: LW Ruutu – C Dowell – RW Burish
4th line: LW Samsonov/Koci – C Perreault – RW Lapointe
Defense
1st pairing: Keith/Seabrook
2nd pairing: Zyuzin/Sopel
3rd pairing: Vandermeer/Byfuglien
Goalie
Khabibulin
Scratches: Johansson (Healthy), Wisniewski (Eye), Samsonov or Koci (Healthy)
Injured Reserve: Bourque, Adams
Tonight marks the return of Martin Havlat and Jason Williams to the lineup, as both were officially activated from the injured reserve list today. The lines have been juggled a little, as the RTK line was broken up a bit, with Ruutu moving to a line with Jacob Dowell and Adam Burish. Patrick Sharp is now playing with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. It’s a questionable move because of how well they have played together, but lately Kane and Toews are in a slump, so maybe this is what they need to get back on the scoresheet.
Tampa Bay features the league’s leading scorer in Vinny Lecavalier (38 points) and also have such offensive weapons as Martin St. Louis (30 points), Vaclav Prospal (25 points) and Brad Richards (23 points). The Hawks’ defensive corps definitely have their work cut out for them tonight.