Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars 7:30PM Central FSW+/CSN Chicago
THE BUZZ
This may be the biggest game of the season thus far for both teams. Even if the Stars weren't sitting atop the Western Conference, there would be ample subtext with Dallas' Johnny Oduya and Patrick Sharp facing the team on which each won multiple Stanley Cups.
This is a serious test for both teams.
For Chicago, how legitimate is the improvement they've shown over the last several games—Dallas eclipses the Hawks at present in every significant statistical category except the penalty kill. For Dallas, there's some suspicion they've fattened their record and stats playing a lot of games outside their own division, which is clearly the toughest in the league. Plus, they are facing the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, and the best big game team of the last several NHL seasons.
The Blackhawks take the ice tonight minus Marian Hossa and Marcus Kruger. The Stars played (and won) last night in Minnesota.
The challenge for the Hawks tonight is defending and resisting an inevitable offensive onslaught from the Stars. Making matters tougher is home-ice advantage for the Stars. Joel Quenneville will need to be very judicious and careful in how he rolls lines and pairings, especially the third defensive pair of Michal Rozsival and Rob Scuderi.
The Blackhawks have given up an uncharacteristically high amount of shots in several games this season, and have often been bailed out by exceptional goaltending. They may need that again tonight.
Corey Crawford faces Kari Lehtonen (likely) tonight. I'll recap tomorrow.