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Chicago Blackhawks (38-13-14) at Colorado Avalanche (42-18-5) 8:30 Central/7:30 Mountain CSN-CH, ALT
THE BUZZ
Now it gets interesting.
While it can be argued every game and every point are important, tonight’s matchup in Denver pits the Hawks against a possible round 1 playoff opponent (in fact, if the season ended today, the Hawks would face the Avs).
Just as important, the Hawks today sit 5 points in the standings behind first place St. Louis, the team they must pass to get a top 3 seed and possibly home ice throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
This, folks, is a big game.
The Hawks have climbed to 19th in the NHL on the penalty kill, after languishing near the bottom of the league for much of the season. Their power play is 4th in the league. Colorado is 24th on the PK and 10th on the power play.
Last 10 games: Chicago 6-3-1, Colorado 6-4-0
PROJECTED LINEUPS
CHICAGO
Saad Toews Shaw Sharp Handzus Kane Bickell Regin Versteeg Bollig Kruger Smith
Keith Seabrook Oduya Hjalmarsson Leddy
Raanta
COLORADO
Landeskog MacKinnon McGinn O’Reilly Duchene Mitchell Carey Talbot McLeod Benoit Cliché Bordeleau
Hejda Johnson Holden Sarich Barrie Guenin
Varlamov
All for now,
JJ