Tonight the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Carolina Hurricanes in new coach Justin Colliton’s first game coaching the Chicago Blackhawks.
Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Blackhawks will be fighting to end their 5 game losing streaks. The Hurricanes are 7th in the Eastern Conference Wild Card with a record of 6-7-2, meanwhile the Blackhawks are sitting at 5th in the Western Wild Card. It is essential tonight that the Hawks pull out a win tonight.
This will be the first game for new head coach, Jeremy Colliton, since Joel Quinneville was fired which adds to the reasons why the Hawks will definitely be looking for a win tonight. An opening win will be good for the new coach who has big shoes to fill. Colliton remain positive throughout his interview following practice this morning:
“It’s a good group, we’re all in this together and we’re here to win.”
The line up tonight will mirror practice from yesterday:
Alex DeBrincat – Jonathan Toews – Dominik Kahun
Nick Schmaltz – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad – David Kampf – Alexandre Fortin
Andreas Martinsen – Marcus Kruger – Chris Kunitz
There has been no announcement regarding the defensive pairs at this time but Corey Crawford will be in net tonight while Carolina is putting Scott Darling in net. This will be the first time these two former teammates have faced off against each other.
Tonight’s healthy scratches will be John Hayden, Brandon Manning, and Luke Johnson. After taking a puck to the face during practice yesterday, Brandon Saad will play but he’ll be wearing a full face mask.
Following some of the events of this week, this game is going to be explosive. We know that some of the guys have been putting blame upon themselves and there’s no doubt that players, such as Patrick Kane, will be out there with something to prove. This will be, for sure, a game to watch.
Lastly, Congrats to Artem Anisimov and his wife, Kseniia, with the birth of his new son, Alexander! This is their third child, with another son, Artemiy, and daughter Adriana. (Lots of A.A. initials in the family.) Anisimov will play in the game tonight though.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM CT tonight, there will also be a Veteran’s Day tribute before the game.
