The Chicago Blackhawks have an Original Six matchup on Wednesday night. It is a nationally televised game against the New York Rangers, scheduled to take place at the United Center. The 12-11-6 Blackhawks are looking to bounce back after a truly dreadful weekend that concluded a lackluster road trip out west. The 15-12-4 Rangers, on the other hand, are 5-3-2 in their last 10 and are looking to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Scouting New York The New York Rangers employ an old Blackhawks superstar in Artemi Panarin, who is still putting up big numbers at 34 years old. In 31 games played for New York, Panarin has 10 goals and 22 assists for 32 points. Around him, there are plenty of talented players. Miller-Trocheck-Sheary Panarin-Zibanejad-Lafrenière Cuylle-Laba-Berard Brodzinski-Carrick-Chmelař Gavrikov-Schneider Soucy-Borgen Robertson-Morrow Shesterkin Igor Shesterkin is one of the best goaltenders in the world. If the Blackhawks are going to beat him, they need traffic in front, smart shot selection, and good decision-making. Adam Fox, New York’s best defenseman, is out with injury. Missing a Norris Trophy winner and likely Olympian weakens their team, so the Blackhawks would like to take advantage. Panarin, as mentioned before, isn't the only player on the Rangers with high-end skills. JT Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis Lafreniere are also relied on to produce offense. The Blackhawks will have their hands full facing this group. Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago The Chicago Blackhawks will be without Sam Rinzel on defense. He was sent down to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to get his confidence back and play better with more minutes. At forward, they swapped Landon Slaggert for Dominic Toninato, as well. Based on the line rushes from practice, it seems like Toninato will have to wait to make his return to the NHL ice this regular season. With the traditional 12/6 lineup back in the fold, Sam Lafferty appears to be drawing in on the fourth line, which has a little bit of everything on it. Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky Bertuzzi-Nazar-Moore Teravainen-Dickinson-Mikheyev Dach-Donato-Lafferty Vlasic-Crevier Kaiser-Murphy Grzelcyk-Levshunov Knight Spencer Knight will be opposite Igor Shesterkin in goal. He has been fantastic this season, and the Blackhawks need him to have a big game to end their current slump. Matt Grzelcyk is expected to take over for Sam Rinzel on the second power play unit. He will play with Artyom Levshunov at even strength, as all three pairs have a shakeup. With Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and Teuvo Teravainen on three different lines, the Blackhawks may have spread out the drivers of offense enough at 5-on-5. After multiple games of lackluster offense, scoring a handful of goals against the Rangers is just what they need to gain their confidence back as a team. 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 TNT, TruTV, or HBO Max. The puck will drop shortly after 6:30 PM. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/da137658-aa7a-4aa0-86f9-0e4d083cc198.jpeg] 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. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
