Chicago Blackhawks (13-5-2) at San Jose Sharks (10-8-1) 9PM Central/7PM Pacific NBCSN/WGN
STARTING GOALIES:
Chicago: Corey Crawford Calgary: Martin Jones
STATS:
GOALS PER GAME: Chicago 3.00 SJ 2.37
GOALS AGAINST: Chicago 2.60 SJ 2.21
POWER PLAY Chicago 18.1% SJ 16.4%
PENALTY KILL Chicago 68.3% SJ 88.1%
SHOTS F/A Chicago 29/30.4 Calgary 31.3/25.7
FACEOFF% Chicago 49.7% Calgary 47.7%
NOTES:
While Chicago is off to a stronger start in terms of wins and losses, the defending conference champion Sharks are doing some things better—most notably defending. This is an experienced, well-coached club that combines size and speed.
The Hawks, on the other hand, have not been playing well since leaving Chicago. Their record on the Circus Road Trip is a fairly respectable 2-2, but one of those wins includes a game in Vancouver where the team did not play well and had to mount an unlikely 4-goal comeback.
The "good" news is, the Hawks are getting a "solid" enough contribution from their rookie forwards of late. The bad news is, the veteran forwards have been inconsistent and an argument can be made Chicago is yet again a one-line team offensively.
Chicago needs a "bounce back" game tonight in a tough building.
I’ll recap tomorrow.
JJ
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