The Blackhawks confront their nemesis in the Stanley Cup champion Lightning and try to solve Andrei Vasilevskiy who has been a brick wall posting 3 consecutive shutouts.
This 3-game series is a litmus test to measure how much the Hawks have grown and improved since the Bolts dominated them in the season opener by a combined score of 10-3.
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Game Days
Game 24, March 4:
Blackhawks vs Lightning
7:00pm CST
Game 25, March 5:
Blackhawks vs Lightning
7:00pm CST
Records:
Blackhawks, 12-7-4, 28 Pts (4th)
Lightning, 15-4-1, 31 Pts (1st)
Season Series:
0-2-0
Goals For/Game:
Blackhawks, 3.13 (12th)
Lightning, 3.55 (2nd)
Goals Against/Game:
Blackhawks, 2.87 (15th)
Lightning, 1.95 (1st)
Power Play:
Blackhawks, 22-66, 33.3% (1st)
Lightning, 18-68, 26.5% (7th)
Penalty Kill:
Blackhawks, 51-68, 75.0% (23rd)
Lightning, 62-70, 88.6% (2nd)
For Tampa Bay, Nikita Kucherov, Mitchell Stephens, Marian Gaborik, and Anders Nilsson are on LTIR. Also, neither the Hawks nor the Bolts have any players on the NHL COVID-19 Protocol List.
The Lightning projected lineup (per DailyFaceoff.com):
Palat - Point - Johnson
Killorn - Cirelli - Stamkos
Goodrow - Gourde - Coleman
Maroon - Colton - Joseph
Hedman - Rutta
McDonagh - Cernak
Sergachev - Foote
Vasilevskiy
McElhinney
After a bounce-back game versus Detroit, look for Kevin Lankinen to get the net in the back-to-back games tonight and Friday then hand over the keys to Malcolm Subban for Sunday's matinee.
The Chicago starters should remain the same with possible mixing of the forward lines while the D pairs remain stable as the past few games. Here was the lineup from yesterday's practice:
DeBrincat - Suter - Kane
Janmark - Soderberg - Kurashev
Kubalik - Kampf - Hagel
Highmore - Wallmark - Carpenter
Keith - Mitchell
de Haan - Boqvist
Zadorov - Murphy
Lankinen
Subban
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Roster Updates
With Brandon Pirri and Lucas Carlsson in Rockford, the taxi squad has the minimum census of 4 players with Mikael Hakkarainen, Brad Morrison, Madison Bowey, and Matt Tomkins.
Of this foursome, Bowey is the one with the greatest chance of being rotated into the starting lineup at some point, possibly once during the trio of games in the next 4 days.
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Rockford Updates
Collin Delia got lit up for his second straight IceHogs start letting in 7. Tom Aubrun came in relief to make his AHL debut. The Hogs overall had sloppy unstructured play giving up 49 shots.
Starting Lineup
Game Recap
1st Goal: Pirri (1-0) PP
Cody Franson moved the puck from low to high up to Wyatt Kalynuk who walked the blueline then set up Brandon Pirri for a one timer in the right circle.
2nd Goal: Shine (1-1)
Matej Chalupa failed to clear the zone then Dylan McLaughlin missed his assignment Max Humitz who had an open shot from the right circle that Dominik Shine tipped past Delia.
3rd Goal: Humitz (1-2)
Less than a minute later, Joe Hicketts fired a point shot that Delia saved but let out a juicy rebound onto Humitz's stick. It didn't help that Franson screened his own goalie.
4th Goal: Curry (1-3) PP
The Griffins stretched out the Hogs defense to create passing and shooting lanes ultimately leading to Patrick Curry's one timer into an open net from the right circle.
5th Goal: Humitz (1-4)
Givani Smith made a stretch pass to Humitz coming out of the box to end the Hogs power play. Humitz got in behind Kalynuk by a wide margin and deked out Delia.
6th Goal: Spezia (1-5)
Tyler Spezia picked up Andrei Altybarmakian's diverted pass in the neutral zone then transitioned it up ice and snapped a shot past Delia from the right circle.
7th Goal: Pirri (2-5)
Kalynuk rushed the puck down the left flank then handed it to John Quenneville who took it to the corner and set up Pirri for the one timer from between the circles.
8th Goal: Barber (2-6) PP
Tim Soderlund failed to clear the zone then Riley Barber picked up the loose puck and cycled it back down himself to the left faceoff dot and buried a wrist shot.
9th Goal: Elson (2-7)
In almost the same manner as the previous goal, Turner Elson pounced on a loose puck at his offensive blueline and drove hard to the net to beat Delia from in close.
10th Goal: Barber (2-8)
Smith pickpocketed Isaak Phillips along the boards to free up the puck which Barber corralled and scored a deflection goal that fooled Aubrun who already committed low.
11th Goal: Spezia (2-9)
Donovan Sebrango unleashed a point shot that Spezia was able to execute an Andrew Shaw by ricocheting the puck off of his shin pads to again deceive Aubrun.
12th Goal: Carlsson (3-9) PP
Altybarmakian passed the puck from low to high up to Nicolas Beaudin at the point who then sent a feed over to Carlsson at the top of the right circle for a one timer.
13th Goal: Wilkie (4-9)
After crossing the offensive blueline, Beaudin made a drop pass to Chris Wilkie who wired a shot from the top of the right circle for his team-leading 4th goal of the year.
Player Notes
Delia didn't track the puck well at all, not seeing shots until too late even if the puck wasn't on net. He was also a nightmare when playing the puck outside of the crease.
Aubrun plays a compact and conservative style staying in his net and showing more control. The pair of goals against weren't his fault as he had no chance due to deflections
Altybarmakian was out for blood in the latter part of the game. Halfway through the 3rd he hit every Griffins player on the ice. His fiery energy will make him a fan favorite.
Both Altybarmakian and Soderlund are noticeable every shift. Speedy, shifty, aggressive, and fearless. Their line with Evan Barratt makes for a formidable unit with offensive jam.
Even though he stood out in his cup of coffee with the Blackhawks, Reese Johnson just hasn't been making his mark as an impact player in his last few games returning to Rockford.
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See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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