A little over 24 hours after a 3-1 loss in Buffalo, the Detroit Red Wings are at it again. Traveling back halfway across the country, the Wings are heading to Chicago for the second-afternoon road game in as many days.
On paper, this is the first tough stretch for the Detroit Red Wings after the break. They play three road games in four days, which was preceded by a tough loss against Vegas on Thursday. The Wings began this series by losing to the Sabres yesterday.
In this second game, they take on the Blackhawks in Chicago. It is an Original Six matchup of one of the longest-running rivalries in the sport. Today’s game is the first of two meetups of the 2018-19 campaign.
The Blackhawks have struggled this year. Currently, they sit at the bottom of the Central with 53 points. Part of this could be attributed to losing veteran starting goalie, Corey Crawford, almost two months ago to injury. Unfortunately (for the Red Wings) the Hawks have been on a tear lately. They have won six games in a row, outscoring opponents 32-18.
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Furthermore, there is an incentive for them to keep winning. Given how the Western Conference is structured this year, 55 points is the current level for the last wild-card spot. For perspective, it is 63 points in the East. They are not going to roll over for the Wings.
Over these past six games, the Blackhawks have been putting together wins by spreading around the wealth. Of course, usual suspects, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane are contributing as usual.
But it has been young players like Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat who have been making a difference. The two 21 year-olds have combined for seven goals and fifteen assists over the streak. The Red Wings have to contain one or both of these young forwards if they hope to win.
Several of the Wings have found personal success against the Blackhawks in recent years. Last season, Anthony Mantha scored two goals and added an assist in the two games against Chicago. He has been in a bit of a drought lately, but look for him to have a better outing today. Gus Nyquist also loves to play against Chicago.
In eleven career games, he has nine points. He is already having a terrific season, but his game has shifted from goal scorer to a goal creator. Barring injury, he will have a career-high season in assists, and he is a safe bet to add another today.
Key Stat: The Blackhawks give up a lot of goals. At an average of 3.64 goals per game, only the last-place Senators are giving up more this season. While this is good news for the Red Wings, they are also in the bottom ten of the league in goals allowed. If you are a betting person, the 6.5 over might be the safe option. This will almost surely be a high scoring affair.
Probable Goalies: Jonathan Bernier (Detroit) 3.34 GAA | 0.898 SV% and Cam Ward (Chicago) 3.75 GAA | 0.891 SV%
Opposing Blog: Blackhawk Up
TV/Radio: Fox Sports Detroit, WXYT
Location: United Center, Chicago, IL
Time: 3:00 pm EST
Odds: Chicago -165
Prediction: While the Chicago Blackhawks have been playing well the past six games, a look at their overall record tells us this may be a bit more smoke than fire. The Detroit Red Wings will look to rebound from yesterday’s performance and extinguish the Hawks’ streak.