Chicago Blackhawks: Notes on the Winnipeg Jets coming to town

The Chicago Blackhawks have an interesting challenge as they look for their first win on Saturday night when the Winnipeg Jets come to the United Center.

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in action tonight when the Winnipeg Jets pay a visit to the United Center for the first time this season. The games against division rivals are going to be extra important this year and this is the first of many. The Jets are a team that expects to be in the playoffs and has been for the last couple of years. They are also a team that entered 2019-20 with a lot of question marks about how they will be this year.

They have some issues on the blue line. They traded Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers so they could avoid giving him a lucrative contract. That may have been a mistake as Dustin Byfuglien decided halfway through training camp that he was going to take some time away to contemplate his future. They have a lot of inexperience back there and the Blackhawks are going to plan on trying to expose that in this game.

They, like the San Jose Sharks, have some high-end skill at the forward position. With players like Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Blake Wheeler, and Nikolaj Ehlers amongst others who can burn you at any point in the game. Their power play can create lots of chances so it might be in the Blackhawks’ best interest to not take bad penalties and make sure they are on their toes at even strength. This is a team with lots of skill at the forward positions and in a way are like the old Blackhawks teams from the early 2000s.

The Jets’ lack of experience on defense might lead to their downfall this season but they also might be able to outscore some of those issues throughout the season. It might not bode well for the playoffs but that is very far away right now. All that matters is that the Blackhawks prepare to defend the rush well and not let them win most of the 50/50 battles.

The Blackhawks have lost six of the last seven games against the Winnipeg Jets. Their only win in that stretch is the memorable “Scott Foster game” where they had an emergency backup play in his first and likely last NHL game. Hopefully, the team can break that trend and get their first win of the season. Corey Crawford started both the game in Prague and the home opener against the San Jose Sharks, so it could be Robin Lehner getting his first start as a Blackhawks goalie in this game against the Jets.