Blackhawks Game 52: Murphy Returns, Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs Panthers

Chicago Blackhawks (16-28-5, 37 pts) @ Florida Panthers (30-19-3, 63 pts)
12 p.m. CT – Amerant Bank Arena
TV: ABC/ESPN+ (Wischesen/Callahan/Hextall)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray)

The Chicago Blackhawks will conclude their three-game road trip to Sunshine, FL. With a victory over the Florida Panthers today, not only will the road trip be a winning one, but they will sweep the season series with the reigning Stanley Cup champions. They beat the Panthers 3-1 at the United Center on Nov. 21 behind goals from Teuvo Teravainen, Craig Smith, and Nick Foligno. The Blackhawks are 3-1-1 in their last five games against Florida.

Connor Bedard has a seven-game road point streak with five goals and nine points. He scored two goals in his last game at the Amerant Arena. The young star has been excellent since American Thanksgiving. In his previous 30 games, Bedard has 12 goals and 30 points. Defenseman Seth Jones has two goals and 10 points over the course of his season-high seven-game point streak.

Speaking of defenseman, Connor Murphy will return to the lineup after missing the last 13 games with a groin injury. He will take Nolan Allan’s spot on the third pairing with T.J. Brodie. Ethan Del Mastro will likely be reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs when the team returns to Chicago later tonight.

Related – Blackhawks Need a Trade Like Flyers & Flames Pulled Off

The Panthers have one of the deepest teams in the NHL; that’s why they’ve won back-to-back Eastern Conference titles. The heart and soul of the team is Matthew Tkachuk, who has seven goals and 20 points in 19 games against the Blackhawks. Aleksander Barkov, Finland’s captain for the 4 Nations Face-Off, has been a point-per-game player in 27 career games versus Chicago with eight goals and 19 assists.

Check out our friends at Florida Hockey Now for a well-informed look behind enemy lines.

Season Series

11/21 3-1 vs FLA
2/1 @ FLA

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (17)
A-Connor Bedard (30)
P-Bedard (45)
PPG-Bertuzzi (8)
GWG-Bedard (3)
SOG-Bedard (120)
PIM-Pat Maroon (71)

Panthers Team Leaders

G-Sam Reinhart (29)
A-Matthew Tkachuk (31)
P-Reinhart (54)
PPG-Reinhart/Tkachuk (9)
GWG-Carter Verhaeghe/Mackie Samoskevich (4)
SOG-Sam Bennett (157)
PIM-A.J. Greer (78)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.61 (31^st)
GA/G-3.39 (29^th)
PP%-23.8 (9^th)
PK%-81.5 (11^th)
SOG/G-24.6 (32^nd)
SA/G-31.3 (30^th)
FO%-45.1 (30^th)
PIM/G-8:36 (20^th)

Panthers Team Stats

GF/G-3.19 (9^th)
GA/G-2.92 (15^th)
PP%-24.2 (8^th)
PK%-79.4 (15^th)
SOG/G-31.3 (3^rd)
SA/G-27.3 (10^th)
FO%-49.5 (22^nd)
PIM/G-9:58 (28^th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

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

Defensemen
Alec Martinez-Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
T.J. Brodie-Connor Murphy

Scratched:
D-Nolan Allan, F-Philipp Kurashev

Injured:
G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), F-Craig Smith (back)

Panthers Probable Lines

Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Jesper Boqvist

Defensemen
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis-Nate Schmidt

Scratched
None

Injured
F-Johan Gadjovich (upper body), F-Will Lockwood (undisclosed)

Goaltending Matchup

Petr Mrazek (9-17-2, .895 SV%, 3.26 GAA, 0 SO) vs Sergei Bobrovsky (21-11-2, .901 SV%, 2.72 GAA, 2 SO)