Players to Watch: CHI vs OTT (3/13/22)

(Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Ah, Boston. The birthplace of the 2013 Stanley Cup clinching game. But, also the place where the Chicago Blackhawks lost an absolute heartbreaker on Thursday night. The team played fairly well against the Bruins. Kevin Lankinen had a very nice game. Unfortunately, hockey is a game of bounces, and the Bruins were gifted the most generous of bounces with less than 20 seconds (no, I’m not going to say it) left in the third period to take the lead and then the win. Ouch. 

Tonight, the Blackhawks are north of the border. They’re taking on the Ottawa Senators for the second and final time this season. The last time these two teams played was all the way back on November 1, 2021. You may remember it. It was Patrick Kane’s return game from COVID Protocols. He had a decent game . . . only scoring 3 goals after assisting on the first goal of the game from Brandon Hagel. Being the hockey nerd that he is, you know that has to be on Kane’s mind heading into the game. 

So, what are these two teams up against tonight?

Through 57 games, the Ottawa Senators have a record of 21-31-5 which is good for 47 points. That places them 6th of 8 in the Atlantic Division. In their last ten games, the Senators are 3-6-1, but they’ve won their last two games - a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues and a 4-3 OT win over the Seattle Kraken. They were on a rough four-game losing skid to start the month of March - 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers, 8!!!-5 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, and a less horrible 2-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. So, you could say that the Blackhawks are catching Ottawa on a bit of a hot streak. It’s only two games, but it’s more than the Blackhawks can say as of late. 

Through 59 games, the Chicago Blackhawks have a record of 21-30-8 for 50 points. That places them 7th of 8 in the Central Division. In their last ten games, the Blackhawks are 3-6-1. This feels like a weird, sudden sense of deja vu . . . oh yeah, it’s the same as the Senators. Unlike Ottawa, the Blackhawks are not on a mini win streak. They dropped their last contest in Boston. We won’t even talk more about that . . .

Moving on . . .

You know I can’t end this without some Goal Differentials!

Through 57 games, the Ottawa Senators have scored 151 goals while allowing 183 for a DIFF of -32. 

Through 59 games, the Chicago Blackhawks have scored 155 goals while allowing 205 for a DIFF of . . . -50. That’s right. The Blackhawks have a worse goal differential than the Ottawa Sentors. Just as everyone would have predicted at the beginning of the year. Granted, Chicago has played two more games. But I highly doubt the Senators get outscored by 18 goals in their next two games. Although . . . with the way Patrick Kane has been playing . . . 

How about your Players to Watch?!

Marc-André Fleury

Marc-André Fleury has, predictably, been one of the best Blackhawks this year. But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. In Fleury’s last five games, he is 2-3-0 with a .877 sv% and 19 goals against. Now, we aren’t taking a deep dive into the Blackhawks defense here. That would take way too long and get way too depressing. We all know this isn’t all on Fleury. But there have been moments where a huge save really could have helped the team. And there are some goals he would want back. The Ottawa Senators are a beatable team. But, they’ve got a lot of nice players on that roster who can put up points. If Fleury comes to play, he could put his team in a position to win. But, the skaters are going to have to find a way to solve Anton Forsberg. Which leads us to . . .

Patrick Kane

Patrick Kane has been on absolute fire as of late. He tied Bobby Hull for second in all-time Chicago Blackhawks scoring. One more point puts him in second place all by himself. In Kane’s last five games, he’s got 3 goals and 9 points. His line with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome have been an absolute delight. He only managed 1 point against the Bruins, but the Senators may be a bit easier to notch some points against. That is, if he comes to play and the team doesn’t take them lightly. For an optimistic view - the Blackhawks faced  the New Jersey Devils recently and didn’t “play down” (if possible when referring to the Blackhawks) to their opponent. Instead they put up 8 goals on them. Come into tonight with that same energy and line #1 could have another special night. 

Seth Jones

Seth Jones met with the media today and expressed that he’s been pretty happy with his play this year. He’s just frustrated that the points aren’t coming in as much as he’d like them to lately even though he’s getting chances. He has 3 assists in his last five games. Again, we aren’t going to do a deep dive into the Hawks defense here. But, let’s look to see if maybe Seth gets some puck luck tonight after calling out his frustration. 

Now, here are the scoring leaders for both clubs. Cheers!

Chicago Blackhawks

1. Patrick Kane: 55 Games Played 19 Goals 46 Assists 65 Points 

2. Alex DeBrincat: 59 Games Played 34 Goals 21 Assists 55 Points 

3. Seth Jones: 55 Games Played 3 Goals 34 Assists 37 Points

4. Brandon Hagel: 53 Games Played 20 Goals 15 Assists 35 Points

5. Dylan Strome: 46 Games Played 15 Goals 16 Assists 31 Points 

6. Kirby Dach: 56 Games Played 8 Goals 14 Assists 22 Points 

7. Jonathan Toews: 48 Games Played 5 Goals 17 Assists 22 Points

8. Dominik Kubalík: 59 Games Played 11 Goals 10 Assists 21 Points

9. Philipp Kurashev: 52 Games Played 4 Goals 11 Assists 15 Points

10. Erik Gustafsson: 43 Games Played 2 Goals 12 Assists 14 Points

Goalies

Marc-André Fleury: 42 Games Played 18-20-4 2.92 GAA .908 sv%
Kevin Lankinen: 16 Games Played 3-7-4 3.60 GAA .885 sv%

Ottawa Senators

1. Brady Tkachuk: 54 Games Played 20 Goals 22 Assists 42 Points

2. Brake Batherson: 31 Games Played 13 Goals 21 Assists 34 Points

3. Tim Stützle: 56 Games Played 13 Goals 21 Assists 34 Points

4. Josh Norris: 41 Games Played 22 Goals 10 Assists 32 Points 

5. Connor Brown: 43 Games Played 7 Goals 25 Assists 32 Points

6. Thomas Chabot: 52 Games Played 5 Goals 27 Assists 32 Points

7. Alex Formenton: 54 Games Played 13 Goals 11 Assists 24 Points

8. Tyler Ennis: 48 Games Played 6 Goals 14 Assists 20 Points 

9. Nick Paul: 56 Games Played 10 Goals 7 Assists 17 Points

10. Zach Sanford: 57 Games Played 9 Goals 8 Assists 17 Points

Goalies

Anton Forsberg: 28 Games Played 13-10-2 2.70 GAA .921 sv%
Matt Murray: 20 Games Played 5-12-2 3.05 GAA .906 sv%

Puck drops at 6:00pm CST!