Chicago Blackhawks: Pittsburgh Penguins bring trouble to town

Chicago sports fans probably thought they were done with Pittsburgh sports fans after Monday Night Football concluded. The Chicago Bears had a devastating and controversial loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers which won’t go over well all week long. Now, the Chicago Blackhawks will have the Pittsburgh Penguins in town to play a tough hockey game.

The Penguins and Blackhawks made up a lot of the NHL’s champions from 2009-present. They have combined for six Stanley Cup championships during that timespan but they aren’t the teams that they once were. However, each group is proud and believes that they have a chance to win on any given night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been without Sidney Crosby lately who is one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He has been in COVID-19 protocol. It is unclear if he will make it back in time for this game but that window may be open. We will see. They are also without Evgeni Malkin who is a top-20 all-time player as well due to injury.

Of course, the Hawks just earned their first win with their new coach on Sunday night. Derek King’s team defeated the Nashville Predators in overtime and looked very good during the entire game. They come into this one feeling good about themselves for the first time in a while. Pittsburgh suffered a shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild a day prior to that.

The Chicago Blackhawks will have their hands full with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Even potentially being without Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins are still tough. They have Mike Sullivan behind the bench which has to count for something as he has become one of the best coaches in the league.

One Blackhawks player to keep an eye on in this game is Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury is the greatest goalie in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has been on the fast track to the Hall of Fame ever since they made him the first overall pick in 2003. Playing as well as he did with the Vegas Golden Knights before making his way to Chicago helped as well.

Fleury is certainly going to enjoy playing his old team once again. The Blackhawks need that to be the case if they want to win as well. If he plays as he has in his last few games, the Pens are going to have a rough go of it. If the team in front of him can provide the defensive effort that they did on Sunday vs the Predators, Fleury will be dominant.

This should be a lot of fun to watch. Neither team is all that great defensively which could make for some outstanding hockey in terms of pure entertainment. If Marc-Andre Fleury can stand on his head in a game like that, the Blackhawks will have a great chance to win.