Blackhawks: Patrick Kane going up against Sidney Crosby

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins were two of the three most successful teams of the 2010s and they are led by premier players.

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins still to this day present one of the best matchups in the NHL. Between the two teams, they have won the Stanley Cup six times in the last eleven seasons. They are each built with a core of players that know how to win. They are each led by a superstar offensive player that can be considered top-5 players in the league when they are healthy and at their best. Those players would be Patrick Kane from Chicago and Sidney Crosby from Pittsburgh.

They both rack up points as good as any players in the league and their stats prove it. Patrick Kane has 954 points in 918 games. He has won the Stanley Cup three times, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs, the Hart Trophy as the league MVP, and the Art Ross Trophy as the leagues leading scorer. Sidney Crosby has 1233 points in 959 games played. Crosby has won the Stanley Cup three times, the Conn Smythe Trophy twice, the Hart Trophy twice, the Art Ross twice, and the Rocket Richard as the leagues leading goal scorer twice

There is no doubt that both of these players are well on their way to the Hall of Fame and are NHL legends. They didn’t have the team success they did without the help of some other elite players. Kane had the luxury of having Jonathan Toews as a running mate and Duncan Keith on the back end. Crosby had the luxury of having Evgeni Malkin as his running mate and Kris Letang on the back end. These two trios were a part of an elite core for a decade and they are not done yet. This Saturday night matchup between the two is a must-see TV event for sports fans.

With Kane being a winger it will be mostly on Jonathan Toews to try and help contain Crosby and Malkin but Kane vs Crosby is the offensive matchup to pay attention to in this one. The Blackhawks are coming off a game where they played a style that fits their roster for the first time this season. If they play that way again they are going to need their goalie to step up big because Pittsburgh can score goals in bunches as well. Pittsburgh came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the New York Islanders in overtime by a final score of 4-3 on Thursday night.

The Blackhawks have a weekend back to back as they will meet the Toronto Maple Leafs at the United Center on Sunday night so you can expect Corey Crawford to get one game and Robin Lehner to get the other. It is likely that Lehner goes on Saturday and Crawford on Sunday but we’ll see. Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry will be the netminder for the Penguins, depending on what head coach Mike Sullivan decides to do. No matter what, this game is going to be entertaining.