Friday, March 29, 2024
Sports Gaming Monitor

NHL Preview: Chicago Blackhawks (24-41-6) at Minnesota Wild (41-22-9)

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: NBCSCH – Chris Vosters (PxP), Patrick Sharp (analyst)
RADIO: WGN-AM 720 – John Wiedeman (PxP) and Troy Murray (analyst)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sunday, Match 26 vs. VAN, 5:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Tuesday, March 28 vs. DAL, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Thursday, March 30 vs. STL, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Saturday, April 1 vs. NJD, 7:00 p.m. CT (ESPN2, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Tuesday, April 4 at CGY, 8:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
March 15 – Recalled Anton Khudobin from Rockford … March 14 – Signed Wyatt Kaiser to three-year, entry-level contract … March 13 – Recalled Mike Hardman and Buddy Robinson from Rockford … March 12 – Assigned Luke Philp, Filip Roos and Anton Khudobin to Rockford … March 9 – Recalled Filip Roos from Rockford

LAST TIME OUT
Score: Chicago (1) at Washington (6) – Thur., March 23 – Capital One Arena
CHI Goals: Zaitsev (1)
WSH Goals: Sheary (14), Mantha (11), Dowd (13), Backstrom (6; PP), Carlson (9; PP), Ovechkin (41)
Goalies: CHI – Khudobin (22/28, 60:00) WSH – Kuemper (27/289, 60:00)
CHI PP: 0/5; PK: 2/4
WSH PP: 2/4; PK: 5/5
Recap: The Blackhawks fell to the Washington Capitals, 6-1, on Thursday night at Capital One Arena … Nikita Zaitsev scored Chicago’s lone goal of the contest for his first goal of the season and his first point in a Blackhawks’ sweater … Jason Dickinson and Tyler Johnson each recorded an assist against the Capitals … Netminder Anton Khudobin appeared in his first NHL game since Jan. 15, 2022 with Dallas on Thursday night, recording 22 saves in his Blackhawks debut.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – MINNESOTA WILD
The Blackhawks square off against Minnesota on Saturday in the third of four games between the two Central Division rivals this season … Chicago is 0-1-1 against the Wild so far in 2022-23, including a 0-1-0 mark at Xcel Energy Center … The Blackhawks posted a 4-3 shootout loss in the first meeting with Minnesota on Oct. 30 and dropped a 4-1 decision in the second game against them on Dec. 16 … Seth Jones tallied an assist in the last game against the Wild and now has points (1G, 1A) in each of his last two and three of his last four games (1G, 2A) … Jones enters Saturday’s tilt having registered points (2G, 4A) in each of his last six road games at Minnesota … Andreas Athanasiou scored a goal in the first game against the Wild this season and now has five points (3G, 2A) in his last nine games against them, including posting assists in two of his last four games (2A) at Xcel Energy Center … Jarred Tinordi earned two assists in the Oct. 30 contest, marking his first career points in five career games against the Wild … Alex Stalock played with the Wild for four seasons from 2016-20, appearing in 89 games and posting a 37-30-11 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and .908 save percentage … Stalock has appeared in three games against his former club, earning a 2-0-1 record with a 2.24 GAA and a .918 SV%.

2022-23 Schedule/Results: HOME: Oct. 30 (3-4 SO), April 10 | AWAY: Dec. 16 (1-4), March 25
All-Time Record: 33-36-14 | Home: 18-18-5 | Road: 15-18-9
Last Home Win: Dec. 15, 2019 (5-3 W) | Last Road Win: Feb. 2, 2019 (4-3 OT) | Last Home Loss: Oct. 30,
2022 (3-4 SO) | Last Road Loss: Dec. 16, 2022 (1-4)

ACTIVE BLACKHAWKS VS. MIN ALL-TIME
GOALS: Andreas Athanasiou, 5; Seth Jones, 3; Tyler Johnson, 2
ASSISTS: Seth Jones, 7; Tyler Johnson, 4; Connor Murphy, 4
POINTS: Seth Jones, 10; Andreas Athanasiou, 7; Tyler Johnson, 6

BLACKHAWKS RECORD ON…
One-Day Rest: 13-19-1
Two-Days Rest: 5-5-0
Three+ Days Rest: 2-2-2
First Game of a B2B: 2-6-2
Second Game of a B2B: 1-10-1

BLACKHAWKS RECORD BY DAY
Monday: 1-3-0
Tuesday: 4-8-1
Wednesday: 1-7-0
Thursday: 5-6-1
Friday: 5-2-2
Saturday: 5-9-1
Sunday: 3-6-1

MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:

SERIES NOTES
GAME BROADCASTS
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
All-Time Wild Record: 49-29-5 (26-12-3 at Xcel Energy Center, 22-17-2 at Chicago)

2022-23: Minnesota is 2-0-0 in two games against Chicago this season… The Wild earned a 4-3 shootout victory in the series-opening game at United Center (10/30) and a 4-1 win in the second game at Xcel Energy Center (12/16)…RW Mats Zuccarello leads Minnesota with four points (3-1=4), thanks in part to a hat trick in the second game…LW Matt Boldy (2-1=3), LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-2=3) and C Sam Steel (0-3=3) have each posted three points…G Marc-Andre Fleury is 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .929 SV% in two starts…RW Patrick Kane (0-2=2), D Jarred Tinordi (0-2=2) and C Jonathan Toews (2-0=2) lead Chicago with two points each…G Alex Stalock stopped 32-of-35 shots faced for Chicago in the first game…G Petr Mrazek saved 18-of-21 shots faced in the second meeting.

WILD LEADERS: D John Klingberg leads Minnesota with 27 points (4-23=27) in 38 games against Chicago…D Alex Goligoski has 20 points (2-18=20) in 40 games…Zuccarello has 19 points (7-12=19) in 20 matches…D Jared Spurgeon owns 15 points (3-12=15) in 39 contests.

WILD GOALIES:Fleury is 13-6-5 with a 2.52 GAA, a .916 SV% and one shutout in 24 starts vs. the Blackhawks…G Filip Gustavsson has not faced Chicago.

BLACKHAWKS LEADERS: C Jonathan Toews leads Chicago with 52 points (18-34=52) in 52 games against Minnesota…D Seth Jones owns 10 points (3-7=10) in 24 matches…C Andreas Athanasiou has seven points (5-2=7) in 15 games.

BLACKHAWKS GOALIES: Mrazek is 4-3-0 with a 2.28 GAA and a .918 SV% in seven career starts against the Wild…Stalock is 2-0-1 with a 2.24 GAA and a .918 SV% in three starts…G Anton Khudobin is 2-4-0 with a 4.00 GAA and a .850 SV% in seven games (five starts).

FAST FACTS: Minnesota’s 49 all-time wins against Chicago are its third-most against an opponent…The Wild has won seven consecutive meetings with the Blackhawks dating back to 2/4/20…Minnesota is 10-3-2 in the last 15 games played at Xcel Energy Center…In 2015-16, the Wild became the first team to win every game in a season series of at least five contests against Chicago since the Boston Bruins went 8-0-0 in 1938-39.

INJURIES
Kirill Kaprizov: lower body
John Klingberg: upper body
Gustav Nyquist: upper body

FINDING THEIR GROOVE
• Since March 1, the Wild is tied for third in the NHL with 17 points (7-1-3), fourth in point percentage (.773) and seventh in wins.

• Since Feb. 11, Minnesota is first in the NHL with 33 points (14-2-5), tied for second in wins and fourth with a .786 point percentage.

• In seven games since March 11 the Wild has scored 4.29 goals per game, tied for the third-best rate in the NHL during that span.

• The Wild recorded a franchise-record 14-game point streak (11-0-3) from Feb. 17 to March 15. The streak is tied for the third-longest in the
NHL this season

• Since Feb. 11, the Wild leads the NHL with a .934 team save percentage and has allowed a league-low 2.10 goals per game.

HOME SWEET HOME
• Dating back to Nov. 19th, Minnesota is 20-6-2 at home for a .750 point percentage, tied for the most wins and tied for the third-best home
point percentage in the NHL during that span.

• The team recorded a seven-game home win streak from Nov. 27 – Dec. 18, the fourth-longest home win streak in the NHL this season.

• In home games since Nov. 19, the Wild has allowed 2.18 goals per game and recorded a .925 save percentage, ranking second in the NHL
in each category.

• Minnesota ranks sixth in the NHL with a .653 home point percentage this season and is tied for sixth with 22 home victories.

ON THE POWER PLAY
• The Wild has converted 26.1 percent (29 of 111) of power-play opportunities at home this season, seventh-best in the NHL.

• Since Jan. 19, Minnesota ranks tied for ninth in the NHL with 18 powerplay goals.

PENALTY KILLERS
• Recorded a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games from 2/6 to 3/2. Did not allow a power-play goal in 12 consecutive games from 2/8 – 2/28, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHL’s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season).

SHORT (HANDED) KINGS
• Minnesota is tied for fifth in the NHL with nine shorthanded goals this season.

• The total is tied for the third-highest in franchise history through a season’s first 70 games (11 goals in 2000-01, 01-02 seasons; nine goals in 2002-03, 05-06, 06-07 seasons).

• Minnesota has not eclipsed nine shorthanded goals in season since recording doing so during the 2008-09 campaign.

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