The Chicago Blackhawks had their latest signature win of the Connor Bedard era on Wednesday night. They won a road match over the St. Louis Blues, who have had their number in recent years, including a season sweep in 2024-25. Frank Nazar mentioned losing the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field being fuel for the group every time they play. They don’t like that feeling of being a lousy team, so they’re doing what they can to change that narrative. Next up is the Vancouver Canucks, who come to town looking to continue what they hope is a bounce-back season themselves. This game against the Blackhawks comes as the second half of a back-to-back, as they took on the Dallas Stars one night prior. Scouting Vancouver The Canucks pulled out a big win over the Stanley Cup-contending Dallas Stars on Thursday night. It was a 5-3 road victory for Vancouver, which is looking to build on the good vibes to open the season. Thatcher Demko, their regular starting goalie, made 28 saves on 31 shots. That likely means that the Blackhawks will see Kevin Lankinen, who played for Chicago early in his career. In front of him, the Canucks project to skate like this: O'Connor - Pettersson - Garland DeBrusk - Chytil - Boeser Kane - Raty - Sherwood Bains - Sasson - Karlsson Hughes - Hronek Pettersson - Myers Pettersson - Mancini Vancouver has a solid top-six. There are guys in this group who can score. On defense, everything goes through their best player and captain, Quinn Hughes. As one of the best defensemen in the National Hockey League, he dominates in all three zones. His speed keeps him up with the best forwards trying to make plays against him, and his skill can get him among the leading leaders in scoring as a defenseman. Projected Lineup Expect Spencer Knight to take the net back on Friday against the Vancouver Canucks. He has made 81 saves on 88 shots to start the season, so look for his dominance to continue with this lineup in front of him: Dach - Bedard - Burakovsky Teravainen - Nazar - Bertuzzi Donato - Dickinson - Mikheyev Reichel - Greene Vlasic - Rinzel Grzelcyk - Murphy Kaiser - Crevier Levshunov Except for the fourth line and a rotation of a few defensemen, this group has mostly lined up the same since the first game. It appears as if this will be another 11/7 match for the Blackhawks. Having Levshunov in there with the other six defensemen is a great way to develop all of the young players with the right amount of ice time. The double-shifting of Connor Bedard is allowing him to get more ice time and puck touches with different players. It has allowed him to pick up a handful of more points, which is important for his confidence. Getting to play with a superstar has also impacted players like Lukas Reichel and Ryan Greene's contributions to wins as well. How To Watch This game can be found locally in Chicago on CHSN. Out-of-market viewings can be found on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 7:30 PM CT. Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay updated on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more.
