- WHO: Florida Panthers (6GP 3-2-1 7P) vs Chicago Blackhawks (6GP 3-3 6P)
- WHEN: 8:30 p.m. ET – LBC GameThread right here at 7:30ish
- WHERE: United Center – Chicago, IL
- ON THE TUBE: Fox Sports Florida, CSN Chicago
- ON THE RADIO: 560 WQAM, 640 WMEN, 107.9 WAXE, 760 ESPN (Spanish),1210 ESPN (Spanish), 97.7 The Wave
- ENEMY INTEL: Second City Hockey & The Committed Indian
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 2 (0-0)
- ALL-TIME vs CHI: 9W-16L-3T 0OTL 3SOL 71GF 106GA
- ALL-TIME at CHI: 5W-8L-2T 0OTL 1SOL 42GF 54GA
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Luongo (2-2-1 .941/2.01 0SO), Crawford (2-2 .922/2.25 0SO)
- JAGR WATCH: All-time vs CHI (regular season): 29GP 13G-14A 27P 2GW
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Chicago
- TWITTER TAGS: #FlaPanthers, #Blackhawks, #FLAvsCHI, & give us a follow @LitterBoxCats and our (newly revitalized!) LBC FaceBook page
- NOTES: Top Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith is out for 4-6 weeks following knee surgery this week. Florida forward Jonathan Huberdeau (2A) lags frighteningly behind linemates Jaromir Jagr (4G/7P) and Aleksander Barkov (3G/6P) on the scoresheet. This is a definite concern as that opening night 7-goal barrage on Philadelphia fades into the rearview, not skewing the numbers now as it had for more time than it was evidently worth. Panthers’ last five vs Chicago: 0-3-2. /
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Last game for the Cats: 3-2 OT loss in Pittsburgh Tuesday. Past five: 2-2-1 11GF 10GA (streak: 2L)
Last game for the Hawks: 4-1 home victory over sad-sack pre-Torts ‘Lumbus on Saturday(…!). Past five: 3-2 12GF 10GA (streak: 1W)
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NHL.com Preview:
After scoring seven goals in its season opener, Florida has averaged 2.4 goals a game in its past five. Looking to spark the offense, coach Gerard Gallant tweaked the second and third lines against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. He switched forwards Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck at right wing, putting Smith on the third line and Trocheck on the second, and that’s how they practiced Wednesday in Chicago. “I’m not a big guy for changing lines a whole lot, but I thought we were flat [Tuesday] night and I just wanted to switch it up a little bit,” Gallant said. “It seemed to work out OK, so I’m going to try it again.”
PlagensVision from Wednesday (via Cats):
Coach Q presser following Wednesday’s practice (via Hawks):
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Thursday in the Atlantic Division (Standings / NEW! Panthers Playoff Chances):
- New Jersey (2-3-1 5P) at OTTAWA (3-2-1 7P), 7:30
- Idle: MON (14P), TB (9P), DET (6P), BOS (5P), TOR (4P), BUF (4P)/
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Panthers, SoFla Media & Loyal Opposition on the Tweets
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