While looking up at the rest of the league from the bottom of the NHL standings, the Blackhawks enter a weekend back-to-back in California starting off with a game on Saturday afternoon against the Los Angeles Kings.
LA is off to a much better start than Chicago, with a 6-3-2 record that’s good for 14 points overall, second in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference. Success in the regular season hasn’t been too much of a problem for this team, as LA has made the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. But this team hasn’t won a playoff series since the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, either.
Somehow, Anze Kopitar is still this team’s No. 1 center despite the overwhelming amount of tread on the tires of his Hall-of-Fame career, As the now 37-year-old native of Slovenia has 12 points (4 G, 8 A) through 11 games to pace the LA offense. Drew Doughty is the other name still here from LA’s glory days, although he remains on the LTIR shelf with a broken ankle. Some younger players are emerging, with Brandt Clarke second on the team at 11 points (1 G, 10 A) from the blue line and Alex Laferriere clocking in at No. 4 on the team in points with nine (6 G, 3 A). Recent top-five picks include Quinton Byfield (No. 2 in 2020) and Alex Turcotte (No. 5 in 2019), although both have sputtered out of the gate this season with five and four points, respectively, not quieting growing concerns about their-long term futures at the NHL level. Oh, and old friend, Phillip Danault is still here and now 31 years old with over 600 NHL games under his belt as another reminder of the on-ice organizational failures of the Blackhawks from the back half of the 2010s.
In goal is the veteran duo of Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich, both with save percentages under .900 and goals-against averages over three through the first month of the season, symptomatic of a team that’s allowed six goals in two outings this season and eight in another. Like Chicago’s other two games this week, goals seem to be available for the Blackhawks this afternoon, and they’ll need to cash in when those opportunities arise because the Kings have enough scoring punch to run away on the scoreboard.
Expect LA’s lines to look similar to what it ran out in the last game:
The Kings enter this game after knocking off the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, while the Blackhawks are at the other end of the spectrum following an ugly 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Because of that, some line changes were afoot at Friday’s practice:
The blue line is going to see some changes as well, with veteran T.J. Brodie earning a trip to the press box after some subpar performances and recently recalled Isaak Phillips taking his spot in the lineup:
Mrazek starts in net, with Arvid Soderblom expected to handle Sunday evening’s game in Anaheim against the Ducks.
Only way in the standings to go from here is up. Might as well start with two points on Saturday afternoon.
Let’s go Hawks.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Kings
43.71% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 53.92% (4th)
42.37% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 54.54% (4th)
2.17 (32nd) — Goals per game — 3.10 (16th)
3.52 (29th) — Goals against per game — 2.56 (3rd)
46.3% (29th) — Faceoffs — 50.6% (14th)
16.60% (28th) — Power play — 22.6% (11th)
75.76% (27th) — Penalty kill — 84.6% (2nd)
(All stats from last season)
How to Watch
When: 3 p.m. CT
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
TV: CHSN (How to Watch) Good luck finding it!
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720