Blackhawks seek back-to-back wins when they host Kings
Chicago picked up its first win under head coach Jeremy Colliton with a 1-0 victory over the Blues on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks look to carry their momentum from their first win under head coach Jeremy Colliton when they host the Kings on Friday night at the United Center.
Brent Seabrook scored a power-play goal and Corey Crawford made 28 saves for a 1-0 victory over the Blues to snap an eight-game losing streak Wednesday.
Chicago has a good chance to start a new streak, this time in the win column, against the NHL’s cellar dwellers in the Kings. Los Angeles is 5-11-1 and is without its starting goaltender Jonathan Quick following surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Cal Petersen is likely to start as Peter Budaj is ill.
The Blackhawks activated Marcus Kruger (left leg) off injured reserve before Friday’s morning skate and placed defenseman Brandon Davidson (right leg) on it, retroactive to Nov. 13. After missing the past three games, Kruger will center the fourth line alongside Chris Kunitz and Andreas Martinsen missed the past three games.
The Kings have a new coach of their own.
Former Canucks coach Willie Desjardins has taken over the throne after the Kings fired John Stevens. Desjardins brought in Marco Sturm as an assistant.
Sturm’s most notable coaching tenure came when he took Germany’s national team to the gold-medal game at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Germany fell 4-3 in overtime to the Olympic Athletes from Russia.
The Kings made headlines Wednesday when they acquired Carl Hagelin from Pittsburgh for Tanner Pearson in a one-for-one trade. Hagelin
is expected to skate on the third line with Adrian Kempe and Matt Luff. Hagelin, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins, has one goal and two assists in 16 games this season, despite playing star players Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Projected lineups
Blackhawks
Schmaltz — Toews — Kane
DeBrincat — Kampf — Kahun
Saad — Anisimov — Hayden
Kunitz — Kruger — Martinsen
Keith — Seabrook
Gustafsson — Jokiharju
Forsling — Manning
Crawford
Ward
Kings
Iafallo — Kopitar — Brown
Kovalchuk — Carter — Toffoli
Hagelin — Kempe — Luff
Clifford — Thompson — Lewis
Forbort — Doughty
Muzzin — Martinez
Phaneuf — Fantenberg
Budaj
Petersen
*Subject to change
How to Watch
Time: 7:30 p.m., Central
Location: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBC Sports Chicago, NHL Network
