The Minnesota Wild have had the Blackhawks number the last season and a half. The Blackhawks will try to reverse that trend starting Wednesday night.
Since the beginning of 2015, the Blackhawks are 0-7-1 against the Wild. In those eight games the Wild have outscored the Blackhawks 28-12. There have been some frustrating games lately, including the Blackhawks? 3-2 loss to Minnesota in January. Now trailing the Wild by six points in the Central Division, the Blackhawks are looking to close the gap.
?We?re looking at where we are in the standings, it?s a chance to get it closer,? coach Joel Quenneville said. ?They have games in hand but that gap gets bigger and it?s like, ?OK, we?d like to be the ones pushing them.? So let?s try to control what we can control tonight and try to close [the gap].?
The Wild have lost just twice in their last 14 contests. Corey Crawford will start for the Blackhawks while Darcy Kuemper is expected to start for the Wild.
Blackhawks forward lines
Nick Schmaltz -Jonathan Toews-Richard Panik
Artemi Panarin-Artem Anisimov-Patrick Kane
Dennis Rasmussen-Marcus Kruger-Marian Hossa
Ryan Hartman-Tanner Kero-Vinnie Hinostroza
Defensive pairs
Duncan Keith-Niklas Hjalmarsson
Michal Kempny-Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goaltender
Corey Crawford
Injuries
Michal Rozsival (lower body)
Wild forward lines
Zach Parise-Eric Staal-Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker-Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund
Nino Niederreiter-Charlie Coyle-Jason Pominville
Chris Stewart-Erik Haula-Tyler Graovac
Defensive pairs
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella-Matthew Dumba
Gustav Olofsson-Christian Folin
Goaltender
Darcy Kuemper
Injuries
Jonas Brodin (broken finger)
Since the beginning of 2015, the Blackhawks are 0-7-1 against the Wild. In those eight games the Wild have outscored the Blackhawks 28-12. There have been some frustrating games lately, including the Blackhawks? 3-2 loss to Minnesota in January. Now trailing the Wild by six points in the Central Division, the Blackhawks are looking to close the gap.
?We?re looking at where we are in the standings, it?s a chance to get it closer,? coach Joel Quenneville said. ?They have games in hand but that gap gets bigger and it?s like, ?OK, we?d like to be the ones pushing them.? So let?s try to control what we can control tonight and try to close [the gap].?
The Wild have lost just twice in their last 14 contests. Corey Crawford will start for the Blackhawks while Darcy Kuemper is expected to start for the Wild.
Blackhawks forward lines
Nick Schmaltz -Jonathan Toews-Richard Panik
Artemi Panarin-Artem Anisimov-Patrick Kane
Dennis Rasmussen-Marcus Kruger-Marian Hossa
Ryan Hartman-Tanner Kero-Vinnie Hinostroza
Defensive pairs
Duncan Keith-Niklas Hjalmarsson
Michal Kempny-Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goaltender
Corey Crawford
Injuries
Michal Rozsival (lower body)
Wild forward lines
Zach Parise-Eric Staal-Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker-Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund
Nino Niederreiter-Charlie Coyle-Jason Pominville
Chris Stewart-Erik Haula-Tyler Graovac
Defensive pairs
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella-Matthew Dumba
Gustav Olofsson-Christian Folin
Goaltender
Darcy Kuemper
Injuries
Jonas Brodin (broken finger)
