Preview: Lightning at Blackhawks
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[January 24, 2017]
Captain Jonathan Toews hopes to
build off his best offensive game of the season when his Chicago
Blackhawks host the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
Toews, who came into Sunday with three goals in his previous 26
contests, scored once and set up three others as the Blackhawks
defeated Vancouver 4-2 for their third straight victory and seventh
in the last nine games.
“It seems like he was around the puck way more and when he does
that, usually good things happen,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville
told reporters of his captain, who is sixth on the team with 26
points (eight goals). The Blackhawks are tied with Minnesota for the
most points in the Western Conference and Tampa Bay was expected to
be at least near the top in the East, but injuries and uneven play
have sent the Lightning tumbling to the bottom of the standings.
Tampa Bay started its critical six-game road trip with a solid 2-1
victory at Los Angeles, but gained one point in three losses since
after a disheartening 5-3 setback at Arizona on Saturday. “We know
our playoff lives are on the line,” Lightning defenseman Victor
Hedman told the Tampa Bay Times after the latest loss. “We can’t
have an effort like this. It’s unacceptable.”
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (21-22-5): Tampa Bay totaled 47 shots in the
loss at Arizona, but had already fallen behind by four goals before
attacking the net with force in the third period and scoring twice.
Goalie Ben Bishop, who had been solid in his previous three starts
since returning from an injury, gave up five goals on 17 shots
Saturday and Andrei Vasilevskiy could get the nod Tuesday after
stopping 56-of-60 shots in his last three outings. Right wing Nikita
Kucherov leads the team with 42 points while managing only a pair of
assists and zero goals over the last five contests.
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ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (30-14-5): Goalie Corey Crawford turned aside
26 of the 28 shots Sunday for his 200th NHL victory and improved his
save percentage in January to .891. “We gave him some good looks
where he could feel comfortable again, and he had some great plays
in close from post to post on their power plays, especially in the
second (period),” Toews told reporters. “He was finding (the puck)
all night.” Marian Hossa had a goal Sunday to tie Artem Anisimov
(18) for the team lead and Patrick Kane (team-best 48 points) scored
three times in the last four contests.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago RW Richard Panik, who started in the NHL with the
Lightning before being lost on waivers, matched his career high with
his 11th goal Sunday.
2. Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman needs one point to reach 200 in his
career and is 12 games from his 600th in the NHL.
3. A total of four goals were scored in two meetings last season
with each winning at home.
PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Lightning 2
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