What is the best way to get over a heartbreaking loss in the NHL? Get right back out there for the next game with the same level of intensity.
That is what the Chicago Blackhawks will be looking to do when they take the United Center ice on Monday night. The intensity of the home opener is now in the past; it's time to focus on winning hockey games.
For the first time, a team known as the Utah Mammoth will be welcomed into Chicago. After three straight one-goal losses, the Blackhawks will be looking for their first win of the season in this one.
Scouting Utah
With two games played, the Utah Mammoth are 1-1-0. When they are successful, their forward group, led by Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, and Nick Schmaltz, amongst others, puts their talent on display.
Utah also has a very good group of defensemen. John Marino, Mikael Sergachev, Olli Maatta, Ian Cole, and Nate Schmidt are leading the way. Sean Durzi is there too, but he is expected to miss multiple weeks with an injury.
Dmitri Simashev, a rookie, is the young gun that they are trying to develop into a top-pair guy. Dressing seven defenders and eleven forwards has become their go-to choice so far this season, but that may not be the case against the Blackhawks with Durzi out.
Utah has two solid goaltenders in Karel Vejmelka and Vitek Vanecek. Their lines in front of them are projected to look like this:
Keller - Hayton - Schmaltz
Guenther - Cooley - Peterka
Crouse - McBain - Carcone
Tanev - Stenlund - Yamamoto
Sergachev - Maatta
Schmidt - Marino
Cole - Simashev
The Utah Hockey Club came close to making the playoffs in their first year there, following the departure from Arizona. Now, they'd like to get over the hump to be a playoff team in year two. They play with pace, defend well, and have a lot of talent that they built up through the draft.
Stay Out Of Penalty Trouble
In their most recent game, the Blackhawks had 39 penalty minutes. Some of that was Louis Crevier sticking up for his teammates, but the Blackhawks had 10 penalty kills. They allowed two power play goals, but that means that they had eight successful kills which isn't bad.
That can't happen again, though. The Utah Mammoth will likely score enough goals to win if the Blackhawks have a march to the box like that.
Lines + Defense Pairs
Dach - Bedard - Burakovsky
Teravainen - Nazar - Bertuzzi
Donato - Greene - Mikheyev
Foligno - Reichel/Dickinson - Lafferty
Vlasic - Rinzel
Grzelcyk - Murphy
Kaiser - Crevier
Knight
Spencer Knight was in the starter's crease during practice for the Blackhawks. Expect him to go against the Mammoth. So far this season, Knight has been great.
Jason Dickinson missed the last game with an injury. Jeff Blashill said today that he will decide on his availability against the Mammoth closer to game time. Based on practice line rushes, it seems like Lukas Reichel will be the scratch if Dickinson is good to go.
Artyom Levshunov appears to be a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. The Blackhawks are adamant about him developing the right way, and they feel that having him watch more from up top is right, assuming he does, in fact, get scratched again.
So far, Chicago's top six haven't been bad at all. They'd like to get even more from the top line, but it's hard to argue against the trio of Frank Nazar centering Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi. Colton Dach will stick with Connor Bedard and Andre Burakovsky, while Ryan Donato starts with Ilya Mikheyev and Ryan Greene on the third line.
This group has kept every game close. At no point did they look out of a game through their first three. Nick Foligno talked about a killer instinct after their loss to Montreal, which needs to be the mindset if they are close late in the game against Utah.
UPDATE: Artyom Levshunov is in and Lukas Reichel is out. It will be 11 forwards and 7 defenseman for Chicago.
How To Watch
Those looking for the game in the Chicago area can find it on CHSN. Out-of-market viewings can be found on ESPN+. The puck will drop at the United Center just after 7:30 PM CT.
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