Scott Darling will get the start in net when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday at the United Center.
Darling, 27, stopped all 10 shots in 26 minutes, 32 seconds of relief work in a 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday night at American Airlines Center. Darling made his 18th appearance this season after starter Corey Crawford allowed four goals in the first period.
The 6-foot-6, 232-pound goaltender is 6-5-2 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .914 save percentage this season. In his last start on March 5, Darling allowed four goals — two in each of the first two periods — in a 4-2 loss at Boston. Darling stopped 35 of 37 shots in his last home start against Toronto on Feb. 15, a 7-2 blowout win for Chicago.
Teuvo Teravainen will play after missing Tuesday’s practice due to an illness. Christian Ehrhoff will draw back into the lineup on the blue line.
The Hawks (41-23-6) shook up their lines Tuesday with Tomas Fleischmann on the top line alongside Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa and Artemi Panarin on the second line with center Artem Anisimov.
Chicago will look to avoid a fourth straight loss when they play Philadelphia. The Hawks have dropped three straight to Western Conference contenders, and are 9-10-2 since their franchise-record 12 straight wins. The recent slide as dropped the Hawks into third place in the Central, three points behind Dallas and St. Louis, who share the division lead.
The Hawks have won two straight in Chicago over the Flyers.
Projected lines:
Fleischmann-Toews-Kane
Panarin-Anisimov-Hossa
Ladd-Teravainen-Shaw
Mashinter-Desjardins-Weise
Keith-Hjalmarsson
TVR-Seabrook
Ehrhoff-Gustafsson
Opponent Breakdown
Flyers | Record: 33-23-12 | 78 points | 4th in Metropolitan Division
While Chicago is slipping in the standings, Philadelphia is climbing. The Flyers are 7-1-1 in their last nine and after Monday’s 4-3 victory over Detroit are just one point out of a wild card spot.
The Flyers have received a big boost from Michael Raffl and rookie Shayne Gostisbehere. Raffl scored twice against Detroit and has four goals and three assists during the nine-game swing. Gostisbehere, one of the rookie’s most underrated rookies, has four goals in as many games.
It’s not just fresh faces that have led the Flyers, veteran Wayne Simmonds, who leads the team with 25 goals, just four shy of his career-high. Captain Claude Giroux paces the Flyers with 58 points, 10 more than Simmonds and the injured Jakub Voracek.
Projected lines:
Schenn-Giroux-Simmonds
Raffl-Couturier-Gagner
Laughton-Cousins-Read
VandeVelde-Bellemare-White
Schultz-Streit
MacDonald-Gostisbehere
Manning-Gudas
Injuries
Blackhawks: Marcus Kruger
Flyers: Michael Del Zotto, Jakub Voracek
How to watch
When: 7 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBC Sports