Blackhawks Game 48, Del Mastro In, Brodie Out, Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs Lightning

Chicago Blackhawks (15-28-4, 34 pts) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (25-18-3, 53 pts)
7 p.m. CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray), LMN 1200 AM (Esparza/Moreno)

The Chicago Blackhawks will get their first look at the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. They will conclude their two-game season series on Tuesday night in Florida. The Blackhawks enter tonight’s contest riding a three-game point streak, while the Lightning have lost two in a row.

Tampa Bay has the top offense in the National Hockey League, averaging 3.61 goals per game. The offense goes through superstar Nikita Kucherov, who is third in the league in assists (48) and points (70). He’s currently riding a 10-game point streak with five goals and 16 points in that span. In 17 career games versus the Blackhawks, he has six goals and 18 points.

Interim head coach Anders Sorensen won’t make any changes up front tonight, but the backend will look different. Ethan Del Mastro will make his season debut after being recalled from the Rockford IceHogs yesterday. He will be paired with Nolan Allan, who was a healthy scratch the last two games. T.J. Brodie will be sitting out.

“We expect more out of him, and I think he does of himself, too,” Sorensen said of Brodie. “We have a lot of games here up to the break, so for him, it’s a bit of a reset and just knowing he can be better, as well.”

Arvid Soderblom will start in goal for the Blackhawks, his first career start against Tampa Bay. He will face Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has dominated the Blackhawks. In 13 career games, he’s 13-0-0 with a .930 save percentage (SV%), 2.14 goals-against average (GAA) and one shutout.

Season Series

1/24 vs TBL
1/28 @ TBL

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (17)
A-Connor Bedard (28)
P-Bedard (41)
PPG-Bertuzzi (8)
GWG-Bedard (3)
SOG-Bedard (112)
PIM-Pat Maroon (65)

Lightning Team Leaders

G-Brayden Point (27)
A-Nikita Kucherov (48)
P-Kucherov (70)
PPG-Point (12)
GWG-Point (6)
SOG-Kucherov (154)
PIM-Emil Lilleberg (74)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.60 (31^st)
GA/G-3.43 (29^th)
PP%-23.9 (9^th)
PK%-83.0 (5^th)
SOG/G-25.1 (32^nd)
SA/G-31.2 (30^th)
FO%-44.8 (30^th)
PIM/G-8:33 (20^th)

Lightning Team Stats

GF/G-3.61 (1^st)
GA/G-2.83 (10^th)
PP%-26.7 (6^th)
PK%-81.1 (11^th)
SOG/G-28.7 (13^th)
SA/G-28.7 (20^th)
FO%-50.2 (19^th)
PIM/G-8:45 (21^st)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Frank Nazar-Connor Bedard-Tyler Bertuzzi
Colton Dach-Lukas Reichel-Nick Foligno
Teuvo Teravainen-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Taylor Hall-Ryan Donato-Philipp Kurashev

Defensemen
Alec Martinez-Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Ethan Del Mastro-Nolan Allan

Scratched:
D-T.J. Brodie, F-Pat Maroon

Injured:
G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), D-Connor Murphy (groin), F-Craig Smith (back),

Lightning Probable Lines

Forwards
Brandon Hagel-Anthony Cirelli-Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel-Brayden Point-Michael Eyssimont
Zemgus Girgensons-Nick Paul-Conor Geekie
Mitchell Chaffee-Luke Glendening-Cam Atkinson

Defensemen
Victor Hedman-Darren Raddysh
Ryan McDonagh-Maxwell Crozier
Emil Lilleberg-Nick Perbix

Scratched
None

Injured
D-Erik Cernak (undisclosed), D-J.J. Moser (undisclosed)

Goaltending Matchup

Arvid Soderblom (6-11-2, .907 SV%, 2.92 GAA, 1 SO) vs Andrei Vasilevskiy (20-14-2, .915 SV%, 2.37 GAA, 2 SO)