The Blackhawks are back on the road and walking into a tough one in Sunrise.
Chicago, still chasing its first road win of the season, takes on the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night to open a three-game swing through the Eastern Conference. The Blackhawks are 4-9-1 overall and 0-5-1 away from the United Center, and this trip doesn’t exactly ease them in. After Florida, they’ll head to Tampa Bay and then Carolina.
The Panthers were just in Chicago last week, and that game gave the Blackhawks a little bit of a window before Florida pulled away late. The score was tied 2-2 after two periods, but Lars Eller’s goal in the third period sent the Panthers home with a regulation win.
Florida comes in at 8-5-2 and brings one of the league’s deepest blue lines with it. Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones, and Aaron Ekblad headline that group, while Niko Mikkola and Dmitry Kulikov give the Panthers more quality behind them than most teams can offer. Jacob Markstrom has had his ups and downs over the last couple of seasons, but the team in front of him has given him a real chance to settle in and win, which has helped his confidence.
Up front, Florida is still dangerous even without captain Aleksander Barkov, who is out with an injury but expected back this season. Sam Bennett centers the Tkachuk brothers on the top line, a group that brings scoring and plenty of edge.
Sam Reinhart is with Carter Verhaeghe on the second line, and Anton Lundell anchors the third. With the game in Florida, Connor Bedard is likely to see a lot of Ekblad and Forsling when he’s on the ice.
Projected Panthers lineup: Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Vilmanis on the top line; Luostarinen, Lundell and Eller on the second; Imama, Schwindt and Hathaway on the third. On defense, it’s Forsling with Ekblad, Mikkola with Jones, and Kulikov with Balinskis. Markstrom is expected in goal.
Chicago’s lineup has been shuffled again, with Patrick Kane out because of an upper-body injury and Andrew Mangiapane also out. Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Greenway are both in, and Dillon Boucher is set to make his NHL debut at 29 years old. The Blackhawks are giving him a look against a heavy Panthers team, and his physicality and toughness could come in handy.
The top line has real upside with Roman Kantserov, Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi. Behind them, the Blackhawks will roll Moore, Nazar and Donato; Smith, Frondell and Teravainen; and Boucher, Greene and Greenway.
On the back end, Bowen Byram remains on injured reserve to make room for Boucher, Kevin Korchinski is the scratch, and Ethan Del Mastro will skate on the third pair with Sam Rinzel. The other defense pairs are Vlasic with Cole and Kaiser with Levshunov. Spencer Knight gets the start in goal for Chicago for the second straight game and the 13th time in 16 games.
The puck drops shortly after 6:30 PM CT. The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area and will air nationally on TNT, TruTV, and HBO Max.
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