Blackhawks Debut New Lines Against Wild

Caleb Kerney

Oct 1, 2024, 19:52

Caleb Kerney

Oct 1, 2024, 19:52

The Chicago Blackhawks will show off new line combinations for tonight's game against the Minnesota Wild.

USA Today Network - Blackhawks Debut New Lines Against Wild

Only three games remain before the real ones begin.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCDdIaAxBGo[/embed]

The Chicago Blackhawks will play their third-last game of the pre-season tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The coaching staff shuffled the deck at the morning skate to showcase three new forward lines.

The first change is on the top line. Philipp Kurashev will join Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi. In the last game, Kurashev centered the team's second line. This was a productive placement for him, as he recorded the game's first goal.

Andreas Athanasiou will jump from the fourth line to the second line. He will be flanked by Taylor Hall and Lukas Reichel.

Finally, Craig Smith, Patrick Maroon, and AJ Spellacy will construct the fourth line. The only untouched line is the Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson, and Ilya Mikheyev combination.

The defense pairings will be the same as the last game.

Maroon will be one player to watch, as he will be facing his old team. He collected 16 points while playing in 49 games. Maroon skated for 12:46 per game, which is average for him over the last four seasons.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxEj8ixM9V8[/embed]

The plan right now is to play goalie Drew Commesso for the entire game. The puck will drop for tonight's game just after 7 PM Central Time. The game will not be televised.

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