Follow JJ on Twitter @jaeckel!
Chicago Blackhawks@Edmonton Oilers 9PM Central/8PM Mountain CBC/WGN
THE BUZZ
The Blackhawks have ventured farther north in Alberta, meeting the 6-12-2 Oilers, a club the Hawks have handled for the most part the last two seasons. This is a game the Hawks need to win, as subsequent games on this trip will prove much more challenging. The Oilers are a team that has loaded up on high draft picks and premier prospects for years, always looking on the precipice of greatness, and never seeming to come together. Still they have talent and they can skate, ad like the Avalanche in that regard, they can give the Hawks trouble.
Philip Danault, the second of two Hawk first round picks in 2011, makes his regular season NHL debut tonight in place of injured Andrew Shaw. Danault will bear the added burden of wearing a bit of a storied number, 24, previously worn by Doug Wilson, Bob Probert, and Martin Havlat.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Chicago
Saad Toews Hossa Versteeg Richards Kane Bickell Danault Carcillo Nordstrom Kruger Smith
Keith Seabrook Oduya Hjalmarsson Clendening Rozsival
Raanta
Edmonton
Perron Nugent-Hopkins Eberle Hall Draisaitl Purcell Joensuu Arcobello Yakupov Hendricks Gordon Pinnizzotto
Ference Schultz Marincin Petry Aulie Faine Scrivens
I'll have a recap tomorrow,
JJ