The Chicago Blackhawks head to British Columbia to face a familiar foe Saturday night when they will go head to head with the Vancouver Canucks.
Game 3 of the annual circus trip finds the Hawks taking on a Vancouver team that sits right in the middle of the Pacific Division. Chicago (11-7-2) and Vancouver (7-7-6) are not quite the rivals they used to be several seasons ago, when a game between the two would surely result in plenty of penalties and extra curricular activities. Gone are the likes of Kevin Bieksa and Roberto Luongo, but this Canucks team still plays a rough and tumble game with Derek Dorsett, Brandon Prust and the always hated Alexandre Burrows.
Corey Crawford is expected to return in net tonight after getting the night off versus Calgary on Friday. The Hawks also should see winger Marko Dano back on the top line after sitting out Friday night’s contest with an illness, which most likely will mean Viktor Tikhonov will be back in the press box.
After seeing the Hawks play a full 60 minutes against Calgary last week, last night’s contest was much the opposite. Other than a brief stretch in the second period, Calgary thoroughly outplayed Chicago, even without winger Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell leaving the game early with an injury. Patrick Kane continued his red hot month with another assist to extend his point streak to 15 games, but outside of the dynamic second line, Chicago was not able to muster many high quality scoring opportunities and got outshot 37-19.
Look for Chicago to come out with some pace after a sub-par performance last night, and to try to jump out to an early lead against a struggling Canucks team that is vulnerable to say the least.
Hawks’ projected lines:
Dano-Toews-Hossa
Panarin-Anisimov-Kane
Mashinter-Kruger-Desjardins
Shaw-Kero-Garbutt
Seabrook-van Riemsdyk
Hjalmarsson-Keith
Daley-Rozsival
Opponent Breakdown
Vancouver Canucks | Record: 7-7-6 | 4th in Pacific Division | Goal differential: +2
The Canucks had some early season success this year, but have now fallen in to the pool of middling teams in the Pacific Division. Returning from a grueling seven-game road trip with a paltry record of 1-4-2, Vancouver will be looking to get back in the win column in front of their home fans for the first time since November 4.
Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks in goals, assists and points (7g-11a-18pts), and they have been carried by the line consisting of the Sedin twins and Jannik Hansen in the early parts of the season. Ryan Miller had a strong month of October, but hasn’t been able to keep up his solid play in November, going win less through his last six starts. He will return to the net after stopping 30 of 33 shots in a loss to Winnipeg on Wednesday night.
Rugged winger Brandon Prust draws back in to the lineup after missing the last 11 games with an ankle injury. Vancouver will be looking to get a a lift and some much needed energy early on from the checking line of Prust, Cracknell and Dorsett against a highly skilled Hawks lineup.
Canucks projected lines:
D.Sedin-H.Sedin-Hansen
Burrows-Horvat-Virtanen
Baertschi-McCann-Higgins
Prust-Cracknell-Dorsett
Edler-Tanev
Hamhuis-Bartkowski
Weber-Sbisa
Miller-Markstrom
Injuries
Blackhawks: Teuvo Teravainen
Canucks: Radim Vrbata (Questionable), Brandon Sutter, Ben Hutton
How to Watch
When: 9 p.m. CT
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC, Canada
TV: WGN, CBC, TVAS, SN