Canes eye Eastern top seed, but expect lineup shuffles. Blackhawks, out of playoff race, host Carolina.
What - Game 79 (50-22-6)
When - 8:30 p.m., Thursday, April 9
Where - United Center; Chicago, IL
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South, CHSN
The Carolina Hurricanes kick off the final stretch of the regular season with a four-game road trip starting in Chicago.
The Canes have locked up the top spot in the Metropolitan Division already, but still have a chance to be the top team in the East too.
However, they've made some recalls for the final road trip and we will more than likely be seeing a few key starters sitting out some games down the stretch here.
Chicago has been eliminated from playoff contention and they currently sit 31st in the entire league.
Injuries to star center Connor Bedard took their season off the rails a bit, but they're still such a raw team that it will be a while before they're truly competitive.
Regardless, there's still plenty of talent on that roster.
Streaks
- Andrei Svechnikov (5g, 3a) has points in six straight games.
- Logan Stankoven (5g, 1a) has points in five straight games.
- Jackson Blake (1g, 5a) has points in four straight games.
- Taylor Hall (2g, 4a) and Sean Walker (4a) has points in three straight games.
Milestone Watch
- N/A
Game Notes
- Carolina is 0-0-1 against Chicago this season, having lost 4-3 in a shootout on Jan. 22 in Raleigh.
- Taylor Hall (13g, 34pts in 28gp) and Andrei Svechnikov (11g, 21pts in 21gp) are point-per-game players for their careers against the Blackhawks.
Key Matchups
Projected Starting Goalies
- Frederik Andersen: 14-14-5; 0.870 Sv%; 3.15 GAA
- Spencer Knight: 18-23-11; 0.907 Sv%; 2.72 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Seth Jarvis (32) / Tyler Bertuzzi (32)
- Points - Sebastian Aho (79) / Connor Bedard (72)
Power Play
- Carolina - 24.7% (5th)
- Chicago - 18% (24th)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 80.3% (12th)
- Chicago - 83.9% (2nd)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup*
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall - Logan Stankoven - Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers - Jordan Staal - Jordan Martinook
William Carrier - Mark Jankowski - Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin - Jalen Chatfield
K'Andre Miller - Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere - Alexander Nikishin
Brandon Bussi
Frederik Andersen
Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Skyler Brind'Amour, Bradly Nadeau, Josiah Slavin, Charles Alexis Legault, Pyotr Kochetkov (hip)
*With so many callups and no morning skate, there's no telling who will or won't sit out. Would assume most of the normal scratches will play tonight though.
Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Teuvo Teravainen - Connor Bedard - Nick Lardis
Tyler Bertuzzi - Anton Frondell - Ilya Mikheyev
Andre Burakovsky - Frank Nazar - Ryan Donato
Andrew Mangiapane - Ryan Greene - Landon Slaggert
Alex Vlasic - Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser - Sam Rinzel
Kevin Korchinski - Ethan Del Mastro
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
Injuries and Scratches: Sacha Boisvert, Sam Lafferty, Dominic Toninato, Oliver Moore (LBI), Artyom Levshunov (hand), Matt Grzelcyk (UBI)
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