Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
For the final Blackhawks game out west this season, Chicago will face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.
Vancouver enters this game tied with Calgary for the second wild card spot in the West, as both teams clock in with identical records of 30-24-11, at 71 points through 65 games. Last season, Vancouver was one of the darlings of the league with a breakout 109-point season that always seemed a little inflated due to some puck luck. The Canucks had a shot percentage of 12.0 and a save percentage of .906 last season, which is a PDO of 1.026 that lines up with that whole “puck luck” thing. Those numbers are down at 10.6 and .887, respectively, this season, which has corresponded with a point pace of just under 90 points in an 82-game season.
The on-ice drama has been settled on this team with JT Miller’s grumpy ass traded back to the New York Rangers, as the team correctly opted to hang on to 26-year-old forward Elias Pettersson over Miller, even if the former is scuffling a bit this season with just 39 points (14 G, 25 A) in 59 games after being over a point per game in each of the last two seasons. The leading point-producer here is one of the best players in the entire NHL in defenseman Quinn Hughes, who’s worth the price of admission on most nights. He has 61 points (14 G, 47 A) in 51 games from the back end while averaging 25:13 of ice time per night and boasting a set of hands, feet and vision that make him as legitimate of a No. 1 defenseman as the NHL can offer.
The Canucks depth scoring has been just OK, with the trio of Conor Garland (39 points), Brock Boeser (38 points) and Jake DeBrusk (37 points) keeping Vancouver afloat in the postseason chase. The real problem has been in net, where Thatcher Demko has been limited to just 17 games this season and hasn’t been all that good in those limited outings with a record of 6-6-3, save percentage of .891 and goals-against average of 2.87. Last season, he was at 35-14-2, .918 and 2.45, respectively. Demko is currently sidelined again while youngster Arturs Silovs has also been below average in Demko’s absence, but the best goalie in Vancouver this season is old friend Kevin Lankinen (23-12-7, .904, 2.55). While Demko skated at Friday’s Vancouver practice, he’s not expected back just yet and the Canucks could opt for either goalie, really, knowing they also have a game against Utah on Sunday.
Here was the rest of Vancouver’s lineup at practice on Friday:
Friday #Canucks practice linesHöglander. EP40. DeBrusk.O’Connor. Chytil. Boeser.Joshua. Suter. Lekkerimäki.Åman. Blueger. Sherwood.Hughes. Myers.EP25. MP29.Forbort. Mancini.Absent: Hronek, Garland
Goalies: Lankinen, Šilovs, Demko@Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/NY1JTYXQ1F
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) March 14, 2025
As for the Hawks, Thursday night’s loss in San Jose did tighten the gap between those two teams at the bottom of the league standings, although the Sharks remain four points behind and the Hawks have a game in hand, so the top draft lottery odds still seem like they’ll wind up in San Jose. Chicago’s lost three straight after a brief spurt of three wins in four games to open March and a home-heavy stretch after this game suggests the Blackhawks will likely rack up just enough points to maintain their current spot in the standings.
On the ice, youngsters like Frank Nazar and Wyatt Kaiser have inspired optimism for the future with their recent run of play, while 2024 No. 2 overall pick Artyom Levshunov has offered glimpses of his long-term potential as well. A youth-heavy lineup has made some of these recent losses a little easier to stomach, even if it’s still an unpleasant way to close out another season at the bottom of the league.
The morning skate is still a few hours away, so there’s no telling what the Chicago lineup will be. Below is how they started things in San Jose on Thursday, although the line blender was in full effect by the second period of that game. The early hope here is that the top Dach-Bedard-Dickinson line that was dismantled mid-game never reunites again due to its overall ineffectiveness. It’d still be great to see Teuvo get some minutes with Bedard, but we’ve been crossing our fingers for that since October.
Spencer Knight starts against the Sharks tonight — his first time making consecutive starts for the Blackhawks.Lineup expected to be the same as Monday:Dach-Bedard-Dickinson Teravainen-Donato-Mikheyev Slaggert-Nazar-Foligno Reichel-Veleno-Bertuzzi
Del Mastro-Murphy…
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 13, 2025
The best times to strike will be whenever Hughes isn’t on the ice, because Vancouver is significantly inferior when he’s watching from the bench. Take advantage of those instances and Chicago just might leave the Pacific Northwest with a pair of points.
Let’s go Hawks.
Blackhawks — Statistic — Canucks43.78% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 49.19% (19th)42.79% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 50.28% (15th)2.71 (t-26th) — Goals per game — 2.71 (t-26th)3.47 (29th) — Goals against per game — 3.03(19th)44.7% (31st) — Faceoffs — 49.7% (t-19th)24.8% (7th) — Power play — 22.5% (16th)80.9% (12th) — Penalty kill — 82.1% (t-6th)
(All stats from this season)
When: 9 p.m. CT
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
TV: CHSN+
Webstream: ESPN+, Hulu
Radio: WGN 720
