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Game 3 @ Panthers

January 17, 2021, 3:44 AM ET [259 Comments]
Theo Fox
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After going 0-2 against the Lightning to start the season, it's time for the Blackhawks to "get out of Dodge" and head south to Miami for the next two-game series versus the Panthers.

Playing the reigning Stanley Cup champions may not be a sufficient litmus test of how much the Hawks need to grow in its rebuild toward contention status again.

Without a doubt, the Bolts are at the pinnacle and are what a contender needs to aspire to. But the Hawks are neither a contender nor a wild card team at this point in time.

While it would be wonderful if the Hawks could write a Cinderella story going from being one of the worst teams in the NHL to the best, the Hawks need to take it one step at a time.

So playing the rest of the teams in the new Central Division may help the Hawks map out how to get to the next level by competing against a greater cross section of the league.

Incremental improvement over the course of the season may be a realistic goal for the Hawks if the entire team can consistently live up to the values of work ethic and competitiveness.

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Game Day

Game 3, January 17:
Blackhawks @ Panthers
6:00pm CST

Records:
Blackhawks, 0-2-0, 0 Pts
Panthers, 0-0-0, 0 Pts

Season Series:
0-0-0

Power Play:
Blackhawks, 2-7, 28.6%
Panthers, 0-0, 0.0%

Penalty Kill:
Blackhawks, 5-7, 71.4%
Panthers, 0-0, 0.0%

The Chicago goalie carousel continues tonight as the team could go back to Malcolm Subban between the pipes or start its third goalie Kevin Lankinen in as many games.

Another opportunity is to give another rookie the chance to play whether that is Brandon Hagel up front or either Nicolas Beaudin, Lucas Carlsson, or Wyatt Kalynuk on the back end.

If and when Hagel gets his chance, he could replace Mattias Janmark or Ryan Carpenter. This assumes, of course, that Philipp Kurashev continues to stay in the lineup over Brandon Pirri.

Adam Boqvist could sit a spell or two in the near future if his overall play doesn't improve. Beaudin may be the lead candidate to take his spot given his stand-out training camp.

This is the Panthers first game of the season. Chris Driedger is expected to be the Cats starting goalie. Keith Yandle has been questionable for even being on the roster.

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Roster Updates

Nick Seeler was placed on unconditional waivers which ends his tenure in Chicago. He had no future with the team. Claiming him off waivers last February was a head scratcher to begin with.

Nonetheless, Seeler's departure impacts the Hogs blueline in terms of not having enough defensemen to ice a full complement of starters and reserves.

As it stands today, the Hogs only have three D-men under NHL contracts: Chad Krys, Anton Lindholm, and Alec Regula. Cody Franson and Dmitry Osipov are on AHL deals.

The Hogs still need a sixth defender not to mention a few more for depth. It is inevitable for more D-men to be added. Could this be a chance for Cole Moberg to get an AHL contract?

The 2019 7th round draft pick Moberg hasn't been playing as of yet this season. Prior to this year, he played four seasons with the Prince George Cougars in the WHL.

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See you on the boards!

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