Who will win this Central Division match-up between two teams experiencing very different fortunes of late?
This
match-up presents two very different ends of the Central Division
spectrum right now. The Chicago Blackhawks suffered some key losses in
the offseason, but once again they’re playing like champions - sitting
atop the Central Division on a four game win streak and a 7-3-1 record.
However, they have been helped by the schedule, playing eight home games
– going 6-1-1 at the United Center, to only three away games.
The
Dallas Stars, on the other hand, sit in fifth in the Central Division. A
record of 4-4-1 and a recent three game losing streak means that they
sit below the Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues and Minnesota
Wild. However, much like the Blackhawks, the Stars have found far more
success at home, going 3-1-1 at the American Airlines Center – which is
where tonight’s game takes place.
What should also be
noted is that this is the first of a home-and-home series between the
Blackhawks and the Stars, with the leg in Chicago scheduled for tomorrow
evening.
Dallas Stars line-up
Dallas are set to enter into
this evening’s contest without Patrick Sharp and Jiri Hudler, who are
out with concussion and illness respectively. Losing two veteran
playmakers – both only having played four games this season – has
greatly impacted the usually high scoring Stars. As it stands, they have
scored the ninth least goals in the NHL, at 26. Tyler Seguin has
sounded the alarm five times in ten games, and Jason Spezza has four in
eight, but the next highest scorers have just two goals.
A
problem that didn’t really arise last season due to the high scoring
nature of the Stars was their goaltending tandem. Both Antti Niemi and
Kari Lehtonen have extremely low floors and very low ceilings when it
comes to their performance potential. The former has three wins this
season, conceding two against the Blues in their last game, two against
the Jets and two against the Ducks. In the three other losing starts,
the Finn conceded five, four and three goals.
Lehtonen
has just one win to his name, with his four starts yielding games with
one, four, two and four goals against. In the win against Nashville,
Lehtonen conceded just one goal and only two in the loss to the Blue
Jackets. A 35 save and four goals against effort against the Kings ended
in an overtime loss, but 15 saves and four goals against in Minnesota
just shows the inconsistency of the goaltender.
Neither
goalie is consistent, and it’s really hurting the team during this
injury riddled time – Jiri Hudler, Cody Eakin, Ales Hemsky, Jason
Dickinson, Patrick Sharp, Mattias Janmark all forwards and all injured.
The Stars need a reliable goalie to win them games, but neither Niemi or
Lehtonen are capable of this right now – or maybe ever.
Following the win over the St. Louis Blues a couple of days ago, the Stars are expected to line-up like this:
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Jason Spezza
Lauri Korpikoski – Devin Shore – Brett Ritchie
Curtis McKenzie – Gemel Smith – Adam Cracknell
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Johnny Oduya – Stephen Johns
Dan Hamhuis – Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Chicago Blackhawks line-up
Last
season, Artemi Panarin won the Calder Trophy which, to many, seemed
unjust. Not only was he much older than the other candidates, playing
pro hockey outside of the NHL, but he spent the season on the same line
as Patrick Kane during the best season of the American’s career, that
won him the Hart Trophy. However, without Kane on his even-strength
line, Panarin is still firing, five goals and 12 points so far. What’s
also surprising is that Artem Anisimov, the center to the aforementioned
duo last season, is also away from Kane, but leads the Blackhawks in
goals, with seven, and points, with 14.
Chicago have
been firing on all cylinders in front of some strong goaltending by
Corey Crawford and the shutdown performances by their defence. Over the
last three games, Chicago have conceded just one goal, shutting out the
Kings and Colorado, only allowing a Michael Frolik shot to breach
Crawford’s coverage.
Rotoworld report that Andrew
Desjardins may be available to make his first start in one of these
home-and-home fixtures against the Stars, but it’s more likely that
he’ll be waiting either until the second leg, or afterwards due to the
great form of the current lines.
Here’s how the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to line-up:
Richard Panik – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Artemi Panarin – Artem Anisimov – Marian Hossa
Tyler Motte – Marcus Kruger – Ryan Hartman
Dennis Rasmussen – Nick Schmalts – Jordin Tootoo
Duncan Keith – Brain Campbell
Michal Kempny – Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling – Niklas Hjalmarsson
Corey Crawford
Predictions
As
you may have already gleamed by the line-up previews, Dallas are
struggling to score and have been leaking goals, whereas Chicago have
been shutting teams out and scoring for fun. This looks like a disaster
match-up for Dallas, and history isn’t quite on their side either.
Since
the start of the 2013/14 season, Chicago and Dallas have met eight
times in Dallas. The Stars have only peeled away with the victory thrice
– by a combined score of 13-2, with two shutouts – with the Blackhawks
winning five – by a combined score of 19-8, never conceding more than
two goals in any winning fixture. Having said that, all three of Dallas’
wins have come in the last four regular season match-ups.
Unless
the Stars suddenly revive their game and score more three or more in
this game, the Blackhawks will win the first of this home-and-home
series. There’s no doubt that the Blackhawks will score at least two
goals, the only way that Dallas can win is by outscoring them, as their
goaltenders certainly can’t pull them through in this fixture.
Chicago to win in a 6-2 onslaught before flying back to the Windy City.
