Chicago Blackhawks face a must-win road game
The Chicago Blackhawks have put themselves in the position they currently in, and it is up to them to get themselves out if they want to make it to the playoffs.
The Chicago Blackhawks are down, but not out. They enter their only weekend game six points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. They pay a visit to another Original Six rival in the Montreal Canadiens.
This game will not be easy for the ‘Hawks. They say no game in the NHL is easy and that is true, but the Montreal Canadiens are also in a fight for their playoff lives and they are much closer. They enter the action only two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second berth in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They will be desperate.
They will likely be facing the guy who is widely considered the best goalie of his generation. Carey Price is having another good year. Some would call it a comeback season after injuries and lackluster play has caused him to struggle a bit in recent years. Right now he has a 2.58 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. It will take a great play to beat this guy enough times to win the game.
The Blackhawks will most likely start Corey Crawford to oppose Price in the other net. Patrick Kane and the rest of the high danger scorers are going to need to make great plays and create traffic in front of Price in order to generate a few goals.
Montreal has a few guys up front to be scared of to some degree. Led by their leading scorer, Max Domi. He was traded to the Canadiens during the last offseason and he has had a huge impact. His 62 points lead the team. They also have Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Drouin who each have 50 points.
Their leading goal scorer is veteran Brendan Gallagher who has 30. All of these guys are relatively new to the organization and they have all played well enough to keep the Canadiens in it. The Blackhawks need to be on high alert for these guys.
The Blackhawks will see an old friend in Phillip Danault in Montreal. He is second on their team with 35 assists and will be looking to make a difference against his old team.
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If the Blackhawks have any hope of staying alive in this race, it would be a little less bleak if they can defeat the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday Night. Most people considered the Edmonton Oilers, the team two points behind the Blackhawks, dead after they were defeated by the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday Night. If the Blackhawks lost to the Canadiens, they would pretty much be in the same boat. It is about as much of a must-win game as you can have in the regular season, so expect a great game from both sides.