It’s been rough for the Blackhawks lately as they’ve dropped eight of their last 10 games, with two victories against Pittsburgh and Washington. The dip in performance comes after an encouraging end to 2018, where the Blackhawks won five of their final six games of the calendar year.
The Blackhawks look to split the season series against the Islanders on Tuesday night at the United Center. New York won the first game 3-2 in overtime behind the efforts of Mathew Barzal and an overtime winner by Devon Toews (no relation to Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews.)
Chicago picked up a win over the struggling Washington Capitals in a Sunday matinee matchup where Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had five points, including a hat trick from the captain. Dylan Strome had three points with an empty-net goal and two assists, while Alex DeBrincat and Brandon Saad chipped in as well.
The Blackhawks will make two lineup changes from Sunday, slotting Henri Jokiharju back in for Carl Dahlstrom.
Cam Ward starts. Henri Jokiharju in for Carl Dahlstrom. Colliton said it’s no slight on Dahlstrom — “He’s been great” — but he’s rotating guys in to keep everyone involved.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 22, 2019
Veteran netminder Cam Ward will start in net. Ward is 7-8-4 with a 3.99 goals-against average and .884 save percentage this season.
Chicago will be wearing their black and white Winter Classic uniforms. It’ll also be the last game behind the bench for assistant coach Barry Smith, who will move back to his role as Director of Player Evaluation.
The Islanders, meanwhile, are on fire with five straight wins after blanking the Ducks 3-0 on Sunday at home. New York now sits two points ahead of Toronto in the Eastern Conference, behind efforts from star center Mathew Barzal and goalie Robin Lehner.
Barzal paces the Islanders with 44 points (13 goals, 31 assists) in 48 games. He scored two goals in New York’s overtime win over Chicago two weeks ago and has six points in his last seven games overall. Lehner earned first star honors after going 3-0 with a 19-save shutout against the Ducks. He’s 1-2-1 in four career outings against the Blackhawks.
Projected Lines
Blackhawks
Caggiula — Toews — Kane
DeBrincat — Strome — Kahun
Saad — Kampf — Kruger
Kunitz — Anisimov — Hayden
Keith — Seabrook
Jokiharju — Murphy
Koekkoek — Gustafsson
Ward
Delia
Islanders
Lee — Nelson — Eberle
Beauvillier — Barzal — Bailey
Dal Colle — Filppula — Komarov
Martin — Cizikas — Clutterbuck
Leddy — Boychuk
Pelech — Pulock
Toews — Mayfield
Lehner
Greiss
How To Watch
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: WGN