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Gameday 20: Florida Panthers at Chicago Blackhawks

Graphic design: Francisco Oporta

The Florida Panthers (12-6-1) visit the Chicago Blackhawks (6-12-1) tonight at United Center to close out a brief two-game road trip.

Los Gatos played a pretty solid road game in Tuesday’s night 6-3 loss to the league-leading Winnipeg Jets, but were sunk by Mark Scheifele’s ninth career hat trick. After falling behind 3-0, the Cats got goals from A.J. Greer, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk to pull within one with 3:22 remaining before Morgan Barron stuck a couple of shorties into the empty Florida net to complete the scoring. Reinhart’s 14 goals have him tied for second in the NHL with Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, one behind the currently injured Alex Ovechkin.

While the Panthers were coming up short at Canada Life Centre, the Blackhawks surrendered two third period goals to the Anaheim Ducks, turning a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 loss. Jason Dickinson scored each of Chicago’s goals, with leading scorer Connor Bedard (15 points) drawing the primary assist on both occasions. Arvid Soderblom has started the last two, so veteran Petr Mrazek could be between the pipes as the Blackhawks look to snap a three-game losing streak.

  • WHEN: 8:30 p.m. ET
  • WHERE: United Center – Chicago, IL
  • ON THE TUBE: ESPN+, HULU
  • ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
  • SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #Blackhawks, #FLAvsCHI, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
  • ENEMY INTEL: Second City Hockey
  • FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 2
  • LAST MEETING: @FLA 4, CHI 3 (Recap) – 11/12/2023
  • NEXT MEETING: February 1, 2025
  • PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Knight (3-2-0 .897 / 2.85 0SO) Chicago: Mrazek (5-8-0 .906 / 2.79 0SO)
  • PLAYER STATS: Florida / Chicago

Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)

  • Utah (7-8-3 17P) at BOSTON (8-9-3 19P) 7 p.m.
  • Vegas (11-5-2 24P) at OTTAWA (8-9-1 17P) 7 p.m.
  • New York Islanders (7-7-5 19P) at DETROIT (7-9-2 16P) 7 p.m.
  • TAMPA BAY (10-6-1 21P) at Columbus (7-9-2 16P) 7 p.m.

Idle: TOR (26P), BUF (19P), MON (16P)

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