The Chicago Blackhawks are set to face the Boston Bruins at United Center on Wednesday Night.
The Chicago Blackhawks will welcome the Boston Bruins to United Center on Wednesday evening. It promises to be an entertaining Original Six matchup.
In their most recent game, Chicago traveled to visit the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they were beaten handily. Losers of three straight, the Hawks have another big test in these Bruins, who have had an up-and-down start.
Earlier in the year, the Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery and replaced him with interim head coach Joe Sacco. Since then, they have been much better.
Boston has been a top team in the NHL for a long time. Despite their struggles early this year, they are back on track and appear to be a playoff team once again. They are a tremendous test for the Blackhawks who currently sit in 32nd place.
On Tuesday night, the Bruins faced off against the Detroit Red Wings. Pavel Zacha won it for them in overtime. David Pastrnak made an incredible play to find Zacha for an open net and he didn't miss. Now, they are looking to have a good game in the second half of a back-to-back with travel.
Boston's lines look like this following their win over Detroit:
Geekie - Zacha - Pastrnak
Marchand - Lindholm - Brazeau
Frederic - Coyle - Kastelic
Koepe - Beecher - McLaughlin
Oesterle - McAvoy
Zadorov - Carlo
Loheri - Peeke
Swayman
Korpisalo
Joonas Korpisalo made the start for Boston against the Red Wings so it is fair to assume that Swayman will start against the Blackhawks.
Pastrnak and Marchand are usual suspects for the Bruins. Centers like Zacha and Coyle can do offensive damage as well. This team isn't going to score a bunch of goals but they are properly structured and play the game hard.
With McAvoy leading the way, they are big, heavy, and strong on the back end. Chicago will need to be smart on the forecheck if they want to skate with this team.
Blackhawks Projected Lines following morning skate:
Hall-Bedard-Bertuzzi
Donato-Kurashev-Teravainen
Foligno-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Maroon-Reichel-Smith
Vlasic-Murphy
Allan-Martinez
Kaiser-Brodie
Mrazek
Söderblom
Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno, Ryan Donato, Patrick Maroon, and Craig Smith are all going up against their old Bruins team. All of them play different roles on this team and are looking to make an impact.
Connor Bedard scored his first career NHL goal against Boston last season and now he's looking to continue trending up offensively here in 2024-25.
If Bedard wants to do that, he might have to continue having some chemistry with Hall. This time, head coach Luke Richardson will put Tyler Bertuzzi back on the top line with these two.
The idea was for Bertuzzi to play with Bedard when he first signed early in the summer. That hasn't happened yet but there is plenty of time to form that chemistry. This game is another opportunity.
The Blackhawks are last in the NHL standings but they have some impressive wins this season. Victories over teams like the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and Florida Panthers are wins to be proud of.
They have proven that they can beat top teams. Make no mistake about it despite their early season issues, the Bruins are still a top team. The Hawks would like to continue that trend of playing up their opponent with Boston in town.
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