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Chicago Blackhawks (18-8-1) at New Jersey Devils (11-13-4) 7PM Eastern/6 Central CSN-Chi/MSG+
THE BUZZ
The Blackhawks are firing on all cylinders heading in to New Jersey tonight. And they get forward Patrick Sharp back after a lengthy injury absence. Sharp will line up at left wing on Andrew Shaw’s line. This effectively bumps Dan Carcillo down to the fourth line and Joakim Nordstrom to the press box. Will it affect the Hawks’ insanely good chemistry of late or not?
The Devils have patched together a veteran lineup with middling results thus far in 2014. Still, they’re coming off a 2-1 road victory over Carolina last night. And they have a solid power play, as evidenced here . . .
THE NUMBERS
Power Play: New Jersey, 9th, 21.4% Chicago, 17th, 18.4%
Penalty Kill: Chicago, 1st, 91.1% New Jersey, 29th, 75.2%
THE LINEUPS
Chicago
Saad Toews Hossa Versteeg Richards Kane Sharp Shaw Bickell Carcillo Kruger Smith
Keith Seabrook Oduya Hjalmarsson Dahlbeck Rozsival
Darling
New Jersey
Zubrus Gomez Jagr Ruutu Henrique Ryder Havlat Josefson Sislo Tootoo Gionta Bernier
Greene Severson Merrill Zidlicky Gelinas Harrold
Schneider
I’ll have a recap tomorrow.
JJ