Blackhawks Game #77: A 24-Hour Turnaround

It’ll be a 24-hour turnaround as the Blackhawks welcome the Minnesota Wild into town, a team on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Stars. Instead of being locked into place, the Wild are in every sense of the word fighting for their playoff lives today. They sit 11 points out of the final Wild Card spot and a loss today all but assures them of being eliminated. The Wild would have to run the table and pray for a lot of luck to stay in the final spot–either for the division or the Wild Card.

So today’s game is an interesting matchup for the Blackhawks. The Wild aren’t as good as the Stars but they certainly have plenty to play for. The Hawks, meanwhile, are coming off an extremely impressive win against the Stars.

Do they have more in the tank for today’s game just 24 hours after notching that victory.

A few storylines to watch: With his 22nd goal of the season, Bedard tied Patrick Kane in rookie goals in a season. Not bad knowing that Kane’s mark was a full 82-game season. Bedard now has 59 points (22-37) and is just three points of shy of catching Darryl Sutter’s 62 points, which would tie him for sixth all in Blackhawks history among rookies.

Lukas Reichel had a heck of a game, turning heads with the play he made that resulted in Athanasiou’s goal. Seth Jones also continued this goal scoring spree, notching his eighth of the season which put the Hawks up by a trio of goals.

And how about Petr Mrazek? The backbone of the backend of the ice kept the Hawks in the game–and the provided in kind with some goal support.

The Hawks and Wild faceoff at 2:30pm.