Game 37 Preview And Open Thread: Blackhawks vs. Kings
Puck Drop: Dec. 30, 6:00 PM CST
Chicago Blackhawks
Record: 19-15-2
Points: 40
Place: t-2nd in Central, t-9th in Western Conference
Power Play Percentage/Rank: 18.1%, 15th in NHL
Penalty Kill Percentage/Rank: 84.7%, 8th in NHL
Blackhawks Team Statistics
vs.
Los Angeles Kings
Record: 13-24-2
Points: 28
Place: t-5th in Pacific, 15th in Western Conference
Power Play Percentage/Rank: 19.5%, 8th in NHL
Penalty Kill Percentage/Rank: 78.2%, 28th in NHL
Kings Team Statistics
Offense
1st line: LW Sharp - C Toews - RW Kane
2nd line: LW Kontiola - C Lang - RW Ruutu
3rd line: LW Burish - C Dowell - RW Skille
4th line: LW Bourque - C Perreault - RW Lapointe
Defense
1st pairing: Keith/Seabrook
2nd pairing: Barker/Byfuglien
3rd pairing: Richmond/Zyuzin
Goalie
Khabibulin
Scratches: Johansson (healthy), Samsonov (healthy), Koci (healthy)
Injured Reserve: Adams, Havlat, Williams, Bolland, Wisniewski, Eager, Sopel
Tonight is a game where the Blackhawks need to take advantage of playing a lesser opponent at home and get a win. The Kings are 3-11-1 in December, have two wins in their last 10 games and are at the bottom of the Western Conference currently. They did pick up a win last night in Colorado, but this is still an opponent the Hawks can handle.
The Hawks last played the Kings on December 12th at the UC, defeating them by a score of 6-3 to end a four game losing streak at the time. Since that game, Chicago is 4-2-0.
Couple of roster notes: Jack Skille will be making his NHL debut tonight, wearing #11 and playing on a line with Jacob Dowell and Adam Burish. Also, Danny Richmond was called up from Rockford today and will be paired with Andrei Zyuzin on defense.
