Blackhawks at Kings: Predictions, Players to Watch, Lines

The Chicago Blackhawks have an early Saturday matchup, facing the Los Angeles Kings this afternoon in the first of back to back games for Chicago.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have one thing in common going into today’s game, they both recently lost to the San Jose Sharks.

The Hawks lost on Halloween night in a close 3-2 game, and the Kings lost 4-2 on Oct. 29. The Kings had the opportunity to shake off that loss the next night beating the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3, maybe Chicago can do similar today.

Los Angeles Kings Leaders:

Points: Anze Kopitar (12)
Goals: Alex Laferriere (6)
Assists: Brandt Clarke (10)
Shots: Kevin Fiala (29)
TOI: Vladislav Gavrikov (23:30)

The Los Angeles Kings host the Chicago Blackhawks for an afternoon game.

The Kings, 6-3-2, are currently undefeated at home, so this will be a tough test for the Hawks. Entering the season, the Kings were undoubtedly expected to struggle after losing Drew Doughty in the preseason but so far the Kings have managed to field a competitive team without their star.

Blackhawks and Kings 2023-24 Results:

3/15/2024 L, 5-0 United Center
3/19/2024 L, 6-2 Crypto Arena 
4/18/2024 L, 5-4 OT Crypto Arena

Projected Lines for the Blackhawks and Kings:

Blackhawks projected lineup

Philipp Kurashev — Connor Bedard — Ryan Donato

Taylor Hall — Nick Foligno — Tyler Bertuzzi

Ilya Mikheyev — Jason Dickinson — Teuvo Teravainen

Patrick Maroon — Lukas Reichel — Craig Smith

Wyatt Kaiser — Seth Jones

Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy

Nolan Allan — T.J. Brodie

Petr Mrazek

Arvid Soderblom

Scratched: Joey Anderson, Isaak Phillips, Andreas Athanasiou

Injured: Alec Martinez (right groin), Laurent Brossoit (knee)

Kings projected lineup

Alex Turcotte — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe

Kevin Fiala — Phillip Danault — Trevor Moore

Warren Foegele — Quinton Byfield — Alex Laferriere

Akil Thomas — Trevor Lewis — Tanner Jeannot

Mikey Anderson — Vladislav Gavrikov

Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke

Andreas Englund — Jordan Spence

Darcy Kuemper

David Rittich

Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Andre Lee, Caleb Jones

Injured: Drew Doughty (ankle), Arthur Kaliyev (clavicle)

Lineups via NHL.com

Blackhawks to Watch:

Ryan Donato getting time on the top line definitely will be interesting to see today. How he does playing with Connor Bedard, and how long Luke Richardson keeps him there could be telling. Also keep an eye on Wyatt Kaiser playing alongside Seth Jones. There are some interesting lineup shakes Richardson is making, but it might be coming at the cost of building chemistry.

Arvid Soderblom’s last road start came on Oct. 11 against the Winnipeg Jets. A game where he gave up just two goals against and registered a 1.98 goals against average and a save percentage of .943.

Soderblom’s second start was not as great – giving up three goals and registering a .857 save percentage against the Sabres on Oct. 19. Now a few weeks later, he is expected to play tomorrow against the Ducks, giving Mrazek a tougher matchup today with the Kings. Mrazek has kept the Hawks competitive through the first month, but he has been playing a heck of a lot. Keep an eye on him tonight.

Prediction:

Richardson continues to shake up the lines. By the end of the game I predict we see Bedard on a line with Reichel once again. Richardson has been doing a lot of line juggling, and maybe its time to let guys play with more consistent linemates a little more often.

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