Blackhawks Game 82: Finish Out Strong, Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs Senators

Chicago Blackhawks (24-46-11, 59 pts) @ Ottawa Senators (44-30-6 (94 pts)
6 pm CT – Canadian Tire Centre
TV: CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray)

The Chicago Blackhawks will wrap up the 2024-25 season with one final game at the Ottawa Senators tonight. They are riding high after a 4-2 shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens last night. The team went old school and took the train from Montreal to Canada’s capital city.

The Senators are locked into the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, so they are resting some of their top players. Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson will get the night off, while former Blackhawks netminder Anton Forsberg starts ahead of Linus Ulmark. Forsberg is one of four ex-Blackhawks in the Ottawa lineup, with forwards Adam Gaudette, Matthew Highmore, and defenseman Dennis Gilbert. Captain Brady Tkachuk will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, but the Senators expect him to be ready for the playoffs.

The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate today, so we won’t know the lineup until interim head coach Anders Sorensen meets the media at 3:30 pm. I’d imagine the lineup stays the same after the win, except for Kevin Korchinski drawing back in. I’m not sure why they kept him up here for the final two games if they weren’t going to play him. We know that Spencer Knight is the starting goaltender.

It will be fun to watch the young core close out the season. Frank Nazar has back-to-back two-point games, with four goals and eight points in his last seven outings. Connor Bedard is on a three-game point streak and has a goal and five points in his last five games. The Blackhawks have dominated the Senators lately. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, they are 17-3-2 versus the Senators.

Season Series

3/5 3-4 (OT) vs OTT
4/15 @ OTT

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Ryan Donato (31)
A-Teuvo Teravainen/Connor Bedard (43)
P-Bedard (64)
PPG-Bedard/Tyler Bertuzzi (10)
GWG-Bedard (5)
SOG-Bedard (191)
PIM-Pat Maroon (97)

Senators Team Leaders

G-Brady Tkachuk (29)
A-Tim Stutzle (52)
P-Stutzle (75)
PPG-Tkachuk (14)
GWG-Tkachuk/Shane Pinto (5)
SOG-Tkachuk (293)
PIM-Tkachuk (123)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.72 (27^th)
GA/G-3.57 (31^st)
PP%-24.7 (9^th)
PK%-79.9 (13^th)
SOG/G-24.6 (32^nd)
SA/G-31.0 (30^th)
FO%-44.8 (31^st)
PIM/G-8:36 (21^st)

Senators Team Stats

GF/G-2.90 (21^st)
GA/G-2.79 (9^th)
PP%-23.0 (14^th)
PK%-78.0(17^th)
SOG/G-29.2 (9^th)
SA/G-28.7 (20^th)
FO%-53.0 (4^th)
PIM/G-8:31 (20^th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Donato-Connor Bedard-Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Oliver Moore-Nick Foligno-Ryan Greene
Landon Slaggert -Joe Veleno-Lukas Reichel

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Sam Rinzel
Kevin Korchinski-Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov

Scratched
D-T.J. Brodie, D-Alec Martinez, F-Philipp Kurashev, D-Louis Crevier, F-Pat Maroon

Injured
G-Laurent Brossoit (knee), F-Colton Dach (elbow), F-Jason Dickinson (wrist)

Senators Probable Lines

Forwards
Angus Crookshank-Tim Stutzle-Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron-Dylan Cozens-Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig-Shane Pinto-Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins-Adam Guadette-Matthew Highmore

Defensemen
Dennis Gilbert-Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot-Travis Hamonic
Tyler Kleven-Nikolas Matinpalo

Scratched
F-Claude Giroux, F-Hayden Hodgson, D-Nick Jensen, D-Jake Sanderson

Injured
F-Brady Tkachuk (upper body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (16-16-3, .901 SV%, 2.72 GAA, 2 SO) vs Anton Forsberg (11-12-2, .904 SV%, 2.67 GAA, 3 SO)