Blackhawks Game 49: Hockey Fights Cancer Night, Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs Wild

Chicago Blackhawks (15-28-5, 35 pts) vs Minnesota Wild (28-16-4, 60 pts)
6 p.m. CT – United Center
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray), LMN 1200 AM (Esparza/Moreno)

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild will close out their four-game season series tonight. A victory for the Blackhawks will mean a series split. Wins have been hard to come by against Minnesota lately. The Wild have a 15-game point streak (14-0-1) against the Blackhawks dating back to Feb. 4, 2020.

The Wild are going through a tough stretch. They lost five out of their last six games, including 5-4 to the Calgary Flames last night.

“Right now, we’re choosing to lose,” head coach John Hynes said Saturday night. “We’ve got to go back to the commitment level it takes to win. The mentality. The fire. The competitiveness. The depth in the lineup. Right now, it’s not enough. It’s not enough.”

Minnesota got some reinforcements recently as Kirill Kaprisov and Jared Spurgeon returned from injuries. Spurgeon has three goals against the Blackhawks this season, while Kaprizov has a goal and two assists in the season series. Ryan Donato and Jason Dickinson have two goals against the Wild this season, while Connor Bedard has a goal and an assist.

Neither team skated this morning, so we won’t know the lineups until both coaches speak. There are only 12 forwards on the roster, so there shouldn’t be any chances up front. Seth Jones missed Friday’s game due to illness. He and Alec Martinez missed yesterday’s practice, but interim head coach Anders Sorensen is hopeful they will play tonight.

Petr Mrazek is the likely starter tonight, and he’s been great against the Wild. In his two games this season, he has a .935 save percentage (SV%) and 1.99 goals-against average (GAA).

It will be an emotional evening as the Blackhawks host Hockey Fights Cancer Night. The night will include many tributes to fans battling cancer, including a special bell-ringing ceremony with 13-year-old Stephen Foltin.

“I love that we do a Hockey Fights Cancer game,” said captain Nick Foligno. “It’s such a great connection with our fanbase. The hard reality is that we’ve all been affected by cancer. To celebrate a kid who’s fighting and beating it. His attitude and perspective on life, even at 13 years old, is something even some of the guys in this room can learn from on how you handle adversity. What we’re going through is disappointing because it’s our job to win, but it pales in comparison to what some people are fighting on a daily basis.”

Season Series

11/10 2-1 (OT) vs MIN
11/29 2-3 @ MIN
12/23 3-4 @ MIN
1/26 vs CHI

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (17)
A-Connor Bedard (29)
P-Bedard (42)
PPG-Bertuzzi (8)
GWG-Bedard (3)
SOG-Bedard (113)
PIM-Pat Maroon (65)

Wild Team Leaders

G-Kirill Kaprizov (23)
A-Kaprizov (28)
P-Kaprizov (51)
PPG-Matt Boldy (6)
GWG-Boldy (8)
SOG-Boldy (168)
PIM-Marcus Foligno (49)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.60 (31^st)
GA/G-3.44 (30^th)
PP%-23.5 (9^th)
PK%-81.2 (11^th)
SOG/G-24.9 (32^nd)
SA/G-31.4 (30^th)
FO%-44.8 (30^th)
PIM/G-8:30 (20^th)

Wild Team Stats

GF/G-2.90 (19^th)
GA/G-2.88 (11^th)
PP%-19.0 (23^rd)
PK%-70.2 (30^th)
SOG/G-27.9 (19^th)
SA/G-29.7 (27^th)
FO%-50.2 (19^th)
PIM/G-7:50 (12^th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

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

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

Scratched:
D-T.J. Brodie

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

Wild Probable Lines

Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov-Joel Eriksson Ek-Mats Zucarrello
Liam Ohgren-Marco Rossi-Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno-Frederick Gaudreau-Ryan Hartman
Jakub Lauko-Marat-Khusnutdinov-Yakov Trenin

Defensemen
Jacob Middleton-Brock Faber
Declan Chisholm-Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill-Zach Bogosian

Scratched
F-Devin Shore, D-Travis Dermott

Injured
F-Marcus Johansson (upper body), D-Jonas Brodin (lower body), D-Luke Toporowski (undisclosed), G-Troy Grosenick (knee)

Goaltending Matchup

Petr Mrazek (9-16-2, .896 SV%, 3.26 GAA, 0 SO) vs Filip Gustavsson (18-10-3, .913 SV%, 2.63 GAA, 3 SO)