A few news and notes from the morning skate ahead of Tuesday evening’s Chicago Blackhawks game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Pregame naps could be high on the list of priorities for the Blackhawks, who had an early wake-up call on Tuesday morning:
Blackhawks, who flew in this morning because of the Christmas break rules, take the ice for morning skate. Dec. 27 is always a tough game for the road teams. pic.twitter.com/v3sQpUrELV
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) December 27, 2022
Alex Stalock picked up the win in the last Blackhawks’ game but he won’t be in the Chicago net for this one. It’ll be Petr Mrazek, who spent the best three seasons of his career playing for the Hurricanes between 2018 and 2021:
Mrazek is the first goalie off and will start for the Blackhawks tonight against the Hurricanes. Revenge game!
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 27, 2022
Elsewhere in the lineup, youngster Ian Mitchell will be watching from the press box while another shuffle will occur on the fourth line:
Caleb Jones replaces Ian Mitchell, Reese Johnson replaces Jujhar Khaira and Colin Blackwell remains scratched as far as the Blackhawks’ skaters tonight.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 27, 2022
As for the Hurricanes, Pyotr Kochetkov has been the best of Carolina’s three goalies this season and is expected to be in net for this one. While Max Pacioretty was at practice, he’s still not ready for his season debut, so the Blackhawks won’t be facing him:
Back like we never left! ⏰
Max Pacioretty is in a standard jersey at today’s #Canes morning skate, and while it’s a great sign, don’t get too excited yet. He’s working as a presumed extra.
Pyotr Kochetkov is in the starter’s crease ahead of tonight’s game vs. Chicago. pic.twitter.com/Ftq3QLKpb9
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) December 27, 2022
Still, an early flight and a tough opponent will make this an even tougher challenge for the Blackhawks, who don’t need any help in upping the difficulty level this season.
Projected Lines
Blackhawks
T. Johnson — Domi — Kane
Kurashev — Toews — Raddysh
Athanasiou — Dickinson — Lafferty
Katchouk — Johnson — Entwistle
McCabe — S. Jones
Phillips — Murphy
Johnson — C. Jones
Mrazek
Stalock
Hurricanes
Svechnikov — Stastny — Necas
Teravainen — Aho — Jarvis
Martinook — Staal — Fast
Noesen — Kotkaniemi — Stepan
Slavin — Burns
Skjei — Pesce
de Haan — Chatfield
Kochetkov
Raanta