Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (15-12-9, 39 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Chicago Blackhawks (14-17-6, 34 points, 8th place Atlantic Division)
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Local broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh and Chicago Sports Network, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens come back home Tuesday to close out the calendar year against the Carolina Hurricanes, then return to PPG Paints on Thursday for a New Year’s Day matchup with the Detroit Red Wings.
Opponent Track: The Blackhawks
lost Connor Bedard to a right shoulder injury back on Dec. 12. The team then lost six straight games, although they bounced back last night with a 4-3 extra-time win over the Dallas Stars, thanks to both a shootout gaffe by Mikko Rantanen and a game-winning shootout goal from rookie Nick Lardis.
Season Series: The Pens won’t see the Hawks again until Jan. 29, at which point both the Blackhawks and potentially the Canadian Olympic team will hope to have Bedard back in the lineup.
Hidden Stat: The Hawks’ Artyom Levshunov ranks third among rookie defenseman with 16 points (one goal, 15 assists) through 34 games this season.
Getting to know the Blackhawks
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Tyler Bertuzzi – Jason Dickinson – Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen – Ryan Donato – Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore – Ryan Greene – Colton Dach
Nick Lardis – Dominic Toninato – Sam Lafferty
DEFENSEMEN
Alex Vlasic / Louis Crevier
Matt Grzelcyk / Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser / Connor Murphy
Goalies: Spencer Knight, Arvid Soderblom
Potential scratches: Ethan Del Mastro
Injured Reserve: Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Nick Foligno
- First-line winger Ilya Mikheyev was scratched from Saturday night’s game to welcome a child with his wife, per The Athletic’s Scott Powers. He was replaced for the Stars game by recalled AHL winger Landon Slaggert.
- Bedard isn’t the only important player currently missing from the Blackhawks roster. Second-line center Frank Nazar is out for a month after taking a puck to the face on Nov. 20. Captain Nick Foligno has been out since Nov. 15 with a hand injury.
Changing direction
The Blackhawks were in the Wild Card race as of the beginning of November before the bottom fell out without Bedard this December. (Comparisons could be drawn to the Penguins’ 1-5-4 record without Evgeni Malkin).
Bedard’s shoulder injury won’t be evaluated until at least early January. Even with more strong performances from Spencer Knight, it’ll be a steep climb back into the playoff picture without him.
The Athletic’s Scott Powers wrote Friday about the two paths the Hawks could choose to take in the interim without Bedard or Nazar. The team could lean on veteran NHLers like Andre Burakovsky and Teuvo Teravainen, or they could give ice time to young players in need of development like recent draft picks Oliver Moore, Colton Dach and Ryan Greene.
Season stats
via hockeydb
- Bedard, who has missed the Blackhawks’ last five games, is still ranked ninth in the NHL points race with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in his first 31 games of the season.
- Arvid Soderblom made 28 saves on 31 shots, then won a shootout, against the Stars on Saturday night. The Penguins could be tasked with taking on Spencer Knight, who despite the Blackhawks’ overall struggles has a .255 goals against average and .914 save percentage through 25 appearances this season.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines (from Saturday’s practice)
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha – Rickard Rakell – Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty – Ben Kindel – Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte or Kevin Hayes – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Brett Kulak / Kris Letang
Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Danton Heinen, Ryan Graves, Connor Clifton, Kevin Hayes
IR: Blake Lizotte (?), Evgeni Malkin, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones
- Kevin Hayes was out of the lineup during Saturday’s practice in favor of Blake Lizotte, who has missed nine games with an upper-body injury.
- Lizotte’s potential return from IR could be a huge boost for the Pens’ penalty kill, which has gone 18-for-26 (69 percent success rate) over this nine-game stretch. The Penguins already have 23 men on the roster, so they’d have to move someone else out if Lizotte is activated today.
- Evgeni Malkin was meanwhile skating on his own before the session, according to Jason Mackey. It doesn’t look like he’s about to make an immediate return— Dan Muse told reporters Saturday that Malkin is “status quo.”
- Stuart Skinner finally has a full Penguins goalie mask, per Seth Rorabaugh:
