Blackhawks look for win against slumping Canucks

Chicago returns to the ice after short break, but will be doing so without Corey Crawford.

The Chicago Blackhawks return to the ice Thursday night as they visit the Vancouver Canucks in their first meeting of the season. After a five day break, Chicago will look to start off fresh in Vancouver, after dropping their last two games.

This is something that may not come easily for the Hawks, as Corey Crawford was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Will Anton Forsberg be able to step up in his place? In 11 appearances for the Blackhawks this season, Forsberg has a .909 save percentage and 3.12 goals against average.

Forsberg is likely to get the start Thursday night, but with Chicago playing back-to-back games Thursday and Friday, Jeff Glass may soon see his first career NHL start.

The Hawks will look to capitalize on the Canucks inconsistent goaltending Thursday, as Vancouver has dropped eight of their last nine games. Jacob Markstrom will likely get the nod for the Canucks. In his 26 games played for Vancouver this season, Markstrom holds 9-12-4 record, including a .905 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average.

The Canucks’ 15-17-5 record this season currently puts them in seventh in the Pacific Division, while the Hawks sit in seventh in the Central Division with a 17-13-5 record.

Lineups

Blackhawks

Position	Players
F1	Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Brandon Saad
F2	Nick Schmaltz - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane
F3	Alex DeBrincat - Ryan Hartman - Richard Panik
F4	Lance Bouma - Tommy Wingels - John Hayden
D1	Duncan Keith - Jordan Oesterle
D2	Connor Murphy - Brent Seabrook
D3	Gustav Forsling - Jan Rutta
Goaltender	Anton Forsberg

Canucks

Position	Players
F1	Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Loui Erikkson
F2	Thomas Vanek - Sam Gagner - Brock Boeser
F3	Nikolay Goldobin - Markus Granlund - Jake Virtanen
F4	Brendan Gaunce - Nick Dowd - Reid Boucher
D1	Alexander Edler - Christopher Tanev
D2	Michael Del Zotto - Derrick Pouliot
D3	Erik Gudbranson - Ben Hutton
Goaltender	Jacob Markstrom