The Chicago Blackhawks will battle the Minnesota Wild again on Monday in game two of their preseason.
The Chicago Blackhawks were defeated by the Minnesota Wild in preseason game number one on Saturday night. This was an overtime loss at the hands of the Wild by a final score of 3-2 at Grand Casino Arena.
The lineup that both teams featured was AHL-heavy. Now, you will see another AHL-heavy lineup for the Wild, but more of an NHL group for Chicago.
The second preseason game for Chicago and Minnesota should favor the Blackhawks on paper due to the nature of each lineup, but those Wild players are all battling for organizational respect.
Scouting Minnesota
The Minnesota Wild will go with a young group of players hungry to prove themselves. Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber, among others, won’t be with the team, but the guys playing are all desperate to make a name for themselves during this opportunity.
Minnesota is expected to line up like this:
Shabanov-Yurov-Brink
Kirkland-McCarron-Trenin
Lorenz-Haight-Shaw
Heidt-Stramel-Kumpulainen
Hunt-Spacek
Gustafsson Nyberg-Lambos
Kiersted-Dexheimer
Pickard
Ruzicka
The top line for Minnesota in this game will feature dangerous NHL-caliber players. Chicago’s top defenders and defensive forwards will have the pressure of slowing them down.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks are going to go with an NHL group for their first home preseason game. With both the 100 and 200 levels full of fans, they are giving them what they want (for the most part).
Patrick Kane, however, will not play for the Blackhawks in this one. Landon Slaggert, Kevin Korchinski, and Ethan Del Mastro are the other extras to sit out from the NHL practice group.
Kantserov-Nazar-Teravainen
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Lardis
Donato-Moore-Mangiapane
Smith-Greene-Greenway
Vlasic-Byram
Kaiser-Levshunov
Cole-Rinzel
Knight
Söderblom
Teuvo Teravainen has been a rotating piece during camp, meaning he is battling for a spot in the opening night lineup. Playing on the top line with Frank Nazar and Roman Kantserov is a great place for him to audition.
Speaking of Kantserov, this will be his preseason NHL debut. It is also the first time that Bowen Byram, Cole Smith, Jordan Greenway, and Ian Cole will dress in a Blackhawks sweater.
Arvid Soderblom started and played the whole game against the Wild on Saturday. Spencer Knight is expected to get the same treatment on Monday.
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. You can watch the game locally on CHSN. The puck will drop shortly after 7:00 PM CT.
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