The Chicago Blackhawks are set to take on the Utah Mammoth on Monday night at the United Center.
The Chicago Blackhawks have a quick turnaround following a tough Sunday night loss to the Dallas Stars. They have returned home and are set to play the Utah Mammoth at the United Center on Monday night.
The Mammoth come in following a thrilling overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Winners of three in a row, they are 6-4-0 in their last 10. It appears that they will be headed to the postseason, as their 34-25-4 mark (72 points) is firmly in Wild Card one.
Scouting Utah
The Utah Mammoth has a good mix of everything. Led by a superstar in Clayton Keller, and supported by great players in Nick Schmaltz, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and JJ Peterka, amongst others. They have the depth at forward and on defense needed to win more than they lose.
Keller - Schmaltz - Guenther
Peterka - Cooley - Crouse
McBain - Hayton - Yamamoto
Kerfoot - Stenlund - Carcone
Durzi - Weegar
Schmidt - Marino
Cole - DeSimone
Vanecek
Vejmelka
Whether it's Karel Vejmelka or Vitek Vanecek in the net, they can keep the puck out of the net because of solid players patrolling the blue line on a nightly basis. That includes Mackenzie Weegar, who was just added ahead of the trade deadline.
Schmaltz and Cooley provide a great 1-2 punch down the middle, but Barrett Hayton gives them some valuable play down the middle in their bottom six. All of these talented forwards will keep the Blackhawks' defenders on their heels, so how they respond will make a difference in the outcome.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks are in a slump. They have had a hard time since the Olympic break, especially when it comes to closing out games that are close in the third period or later. Following the trade deadline, this group will have to battle even harder until more reinforcements show up.
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen
Mangiapane-Donato-Mikheyev
Slaggert-Lafferty-Lardis
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Rinzel
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Del Mastro
Commesso
Soderblom
Drew Commesso is scheduled to start in goal for the Blackhawks. Spencer Knight remains ill and won't dress. After starting the last two games for the Blackhawks, he will back up Commesso.
Oliver Moore was injured during the first period of Chicago's loss to Dallas on Sunday. There was no update on him, other than the fact that he won't go on Monday against Utah. We will soon find out if he makes the trip out west.
Sam Lafferty could draw into the lineup, or they could go 11/7 again by inserting Ethan Del Mastro. That will be revealed during warm-ups.
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be found on CHSN locally. Nationally, it is available to stream on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 7:30 PM CT.
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