The suddenly surging Chicago Blackhawks are back on United Center ice Sunday evening to face one of the league’s top up-and-coming teams in the New Jersey Devils.
Perhaps “suddenly surging” is a touch hyperbolic when considering that the Blackhawks have not won multiple games in a row yet in this young season. But winning two of three against a pair of the league’s best teams in the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers has certainly raised some spirits around 1901 W. Madison.
Another strong test arrives with the Devils in town on Sunday, although New Jersey enters this game shorthanded by injuries. Nico Hischier has been out for a week after taking a high hit and rising star Jack Hughes won’t play after taking a nasty spill into the boards against the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. It could’ve been worse for Hughes, though:
Hughes had an absurd 20 points (5 G, 15 A) through the first 10 games of the season and his firepower will certainly be missed, but the Devils also have Jesper Bratt soaring at the start of the season to the tune of 18 points (7 G, 11 A) through 10 games. Mix in Tyler Toffoli’s 11 points (7 G, 4 A) and Timo Meier’s 8 points (2 G, 6 A) and the forward depth may be able to survive the absence of Hughes and Hischier. On the back end, Dougie Hamilton still looks like the No. 1 defenseman he was last season while 2021 No. 4 overall pick Luke Hughes is getting his first full season in the NHL, skating alongside Brendan Smith on the third D pairing.
It’s on the blue line and in net where things have been a little shaky for the Devils to start this season, though. New Jersey is currently fourth in the league at 3.9 goals scored per game but it’s also fifth-worst in the league by allowing 3.6 per game. The numbers for neither starter Vitek Vanecek (.893 save percentage, 3.21 goals-against average) nor backup Akira Schmid (.887, 3.51) are going to inspire sonnets, suggesting that New Jersey has only been surviving by outscoring opponents through the first month of the season. With Hughes out, such a strategy may not be quite as effective.
As for the Blackhawks, it’s hard to envision any significant lineup changes following Saturday’s enjoyable result against the Panthers. Alex Vlasic may find his way back into the lineup after returning from concussion protocol and it seems like this will be a night for Arvid Soderblom in net with Mrazek playing the night before. It’d be a good time for Soderblom to move on from whatever the hell that team-wide debacle on Monday night was.
New Jersey’s brightest star won’t be around, depriving us of an early Hughes vs. Bedard matchup to keep an eye on. But the Devils will almost certainly still find ways to put pucks in the net, so Chicago’s offense will need to keep up. Good test for the youngsters on the blue line, too.
Let’s go Hawks.
How to watch
When: 6 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBC Sports Chicago, NHL Network
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720