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Hawks at Sharks Showdown Preview |
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Follow me @jaeckel
Blackhawks at Sharks
10:30 PM Eastern/9:30 Central/7:30 Pacific
HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA
CSN (CHI and CA)/WGN Radio
SCOUTING REPORT
With the road-weary Hawks coming off an amazing goalie performance by Ray Emery in a 2-1 win Saturday in Calgary—and the Sharks taking their first regulation loss last night in Anaheim—the two teams who currently look to be the class of the West face off tonight.
Story lines abound.
First, and obviously, Western Conference Primacy.
No, this game doesn't decide the season. But it certainly sets a tone, sends a message and there are three points up for grabs in a shortened season.
Niemi vs. Crawford.
It's never easy for Corey Crawford. He starts the season with some of the best numbers in the NHL, and yet his backup delivers the Hawks' best goaltending in one game yet this season, and really this decade. And tonight, he faces the ex-Hawk goalie many fans believe to be Crawford's superior. For Crawford, this game is huge. It would be silly to expect Crawford to win this game by himself; it is very important for Crawford, however, not to lose this game.
Styles.
The Sharks are more physical than the Hawks, maybe every bit as deep and play a very balanced, disciplined game. Where the Hawks could have an advantage is in using their forward speed and puck movement to overwhelm a San Jose defense with decent to good, but not great mobility. Also the Hawks can stymie the San Jose forwards with their backcheck—all provided they've regained the legs that were clearly dead in Calgary three days ago.
Everyone get a nap in, it could be another long night.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
SAN JOSE
JOE THORNTON JOE PAVELSKI PATRICK MARLEAU
RYAN CLOWE JAMES SHEPPARD LOGAN COUTURE
MARTIN HAVLAT SCOTT GOMEZ MICHAL HANDZUS
TJ GALIARDI ANDREW DESJARDINS ADAM BURISH
BRAD STUART DAN BOYLE
DOUGLAS MURRAY JUSTIN BRAUN
JASON DEMERS MARC EDOUARD VLASIC
ANTTI NIEMI
CHICAGO
BRANDON SAAD JONATHAN TOEWS MARIAN HOSSA
PATRICK SHARP DAVE BOLLAND PATRICK KANE
BRYAN BICKELL ANDREW SHAW VIKTOR STALBERG
BRANDON BOLLIG MARCUS KRUGER MICHAL FROLIK
BRENT SEABROOK DUNCAN KEITH
NIKLAS HJALMARSSON JOHNNY ODUYA
MICHAL ROZSIVAL NICK LEDDY
COREY CRAWFORD
STATS
POWER PLAY
Chicago, 14th
San Jose 5th
PENALTY KILL
Chicago, 1st
San Jose, 6th
FACEOFF %
Chicago, 14th
San Jose, 2nd
TAKEAWAYS
Chicago, 2nd
San Jose, 21st
HITS
Chicago, 29th
San Jose, 17th
BLOCKED SHOTS
Chicago, 9th
San Jose, 2nd
All for now,
JJ