Chicago Blackhawks: Vegas might be angry arriving in Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to go up against an angry Vegas Golden Knights team and they are going to need to be near perfect to tame the beast.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a tough game ahead when the Vegas Golden Knights come to town on Tuesday. Vegas was blown out by the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night by a final score of 6-2 as Vegas really never had a chance in the game. It was a terrible performance by them, especially given the fact that they are one of the five best teams in the National Hockey League.

They had their third-string goalie, Oscar Dansk, in the net so that is less than ideal as their backup Malcolm Subban is injured. Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the best goalies in the NHL and he will get the start tonight against the Blackhawks. Normally, it would be a good thing to play a team that is on the second half of a back to back but this might be different as they will be angry and motivated. The Blackhawks are coming off a loss themselves to the Washington Capitals so expect them to come prepared to play as well.

Vegas might be a tough matchup for the Blackhawks weak defense as they present what is maybe the best top-six in the league. Their top-line features Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith centered by William Karlsson. Then their defacto second line is Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone centered by Paul Stastny. Stone is their best player but the entire top six can come at you in waves and score in bunches. Each line has a Selke Trophy level player in Stone and Karlsson and they are both top-flight offensive players as well.

With such great forward depth, a defense core that gets it done by committee, and an elite goalie, they are definitely favorites to come out of the West. If the Blackhawks separate Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for this game, you can expect Toews to see a lot of the Karlsson line and Kane to see a lot of the Stone line. It is super important that the Blackhawks’ big boys get the job done in this game.

The Blackhawks used Corey Crawford on Sunday against the Capitals so it will be interesting to see if they will use him or Robin Lehner for this one but it will be decided over the course of the day. This is a good opportunity for the Blackhawks to redeem themselves after getting beat by Washington and the chance to beat an elite team once again.