Blackhawks Vs Kings: Projected Lineup, How To Watch, & More Ahead Of Game 12

The Chicago Blackhawks (3-8-0) had a better showing against the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon, but they still managed to skate away with nothing in the standings. 

Now, the Blackhawks will end their 7-game home stand by welcoming the Los Angeles Kings (3-5-2), who haven’t been doing much better. The Kings have played one fewer game than the Blackhawks but still slightly edge them out in the overall league standings. 

The Kings are closer to the Blackhawks in overall talent than some of their previous (and future) opponents, which should allow both sides to gain some confidence in certain areas of the game. 

Scouting Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Kings are coming into this game after playing the night before. They defeated the New York Rangers 6-3 at Madison Square Garden and now have to play the Blackhawks after a long night of travel from New York. 

Last season, captain and franchise icon Anze Kopitar hung up his skates after a Hall of Fame-worthy career. Now, with Drew Doughty finishing out his playing days as the team’s captain, they are retooling on the fly. They don’t like being one of the worst teams in the Pacific so far, but it’s the reality of the situation until they pull themselves out of it. The Kings expect to be in the playoffs every year. Most of the time, they get their wish. 

Panarin - Laferriere - Kempe

Moore - Byfield - Ward

Laughton - Haula - Armia

Lee - Helenius - Perry

Gustafsson - Clarke

Edmundson - Doughty

Anderson - Dumoulin

Forsberg

Darcy Kuemper started in goal for the Kings against the Rangers, so the Blackhawks are likely to see Anton Forsberg in this one. They will be without Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Fiala, and Alex Turcotte, who are all working their way back from injuries. 

At forward, the Kings don’t have Kopitar anymore, and a few guys are on the IR, but that doesn’t mean that they have no talent. This group is led by former Blackhawks star Artemi Panarin, who brings a dynamic ability to generate offense as well as anyone.

On defense, Doughty is still a notable player, but Brandt Clarke is their new number-one guy. Having the elder future Hall of Famer on the same team is quite helpful. If the young Blackhawks want to beat the Kings, pushing the pace against their aging group is one of the keys. 

Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago

The Blackhawks are right there with the Kings at the bottom of the NHL standings. They've lost 3 straight games, and a couple of them have been lousy efforts. Now, they have a chance to bounce back against a team that should be less fresh than they are. 

Kantserov - Bedard - Greene

Bertuzzi - Frondell - Donato

Moore - Nazar - Kane

Smith - Greenway - Teravainen

Vlasic - Cole

Kaiser - Levshunov

Korchinski - Rinzel

Knight

Spencer Knight is going to make his 7th start in a row, and his 12th start out of Chicago's 12 games so far. Jeff Blashill said he is going to find time to play Arvid Soderblom at some point, but there have been no back-to-backs yet. That has allowed them to keep going with Knight, who gives them the best chance to win. 

The lines are in a blender again. Ryan Greene, who scored his first goal of the season last time out, is going to be on the top line with Connor Bedard and Roman Kantserov. Greene spent a lot of time with Bedard last season, and it was a decent line. Jordan Greenway will go down and be the fourth-line center in Greene's place. 

Patrick Kane is moving down to play with Frank Nazar. Oliver Moore will be the third forward on the line as he returns from being a healthy scratch. Andrew Mangiapane comes out for Moore. 

On defense, Bowen Byram is not ready to come back yet. He has been skating in a non-contact sweater, but won't play against the Kings. Kevin Korchinski played well enough to earn another game, but it was fair to wonder if Jeff Blashill would agree to do it. Well, Korchinski is going to be in on Tuesday night with another chance to prove himself. 

Chicago's Power Play

The Blackhawks are going to try the 5-forward top power play unit again. It hasn't worked well for multiple reasons, but Jeff Blashill is sticking with it. The two units will look like this to start the game on Tuesday:

Unit 1:

Bertuzzi

Kane-Kantserov-Bedard

Teravainen

Unit 2:

Greene

Nazar-Donato-Frondell

Rinzel

The change that Blashill made to address the issue is flipping Patrick Kane and Connor Bedard. If that doesn't get the top unit going, it will be time for them to make more changes to the personnel within the units. 

If they don't get out of the basement of the power-play rankings, it is going to be incredibly difficult to turn their season around. After going 0/7 against the Florida Panthers on Sunday, look for them to work hard to finally get one. 

How To Watch

The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. It can be seen locally on CHSN. Nationally, you can stream it on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 7:00 PM CT. 

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