Last season Chicago beat the Penguins 5-1 in Pittsburgh.
As winter starts rolling in across the Northern Hemisphere, this weekend is the perfect time to grab a 6-pack of some winter ales, find a friend, and curl up on the couch on a chilly evening and watch yourself a hockey game between 2 of the game’s most simultaneously loved and hated franchises.
Saturday night the Blackhawks enter PPG Paints Arena for what feels like a revenge game for the Penguins. Very early this season the Pens had their doors absolutely blown off by the Blackhawks in a 10-1 thumping in Chicago, and last season Chicago manhandled the Pens in Pittsburgh 5-1. I am sure there is still a bad taste in many a Yinzer’s mouth, including my beloved brother’s and Sydney Crosby’s, as it was Sid the Kid who made a not so subtle slash against Chicago’s Captain Jonathan Toews at the end of last season’s clash in Pittsburgh.
This season, both teams have been off to some slow starts.
Fellow Underdog writer A.J. Crame has done a phenomenal job documenting the Penguins so far this season, so if you’re a big hockey fan make sure you follow his work. As of Friday, the Penguins sit at 11-7-3 with 25 points and in a playoff spot if the season ended today. Phil Kessel has put this team on his back, leading or tied for the team lead in points (24), goals (8), assists (16), and +/- (+2). It will be interesting to see how Justin Schultz coming back from his concussion and getting back into the swing of things helps this team. He has 3 points in his last 5 games, but his production has to go up for Pittsburgh to really be a force in the East.
As for the Blackhawks, Coach Q has been doing Coach Q things all year. He has been flipping line combos at a seemingly even quicker rate than he normally does, trying to find the right mix in what is a very new look team after the key additions/returns of Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, and Connor Murphy, along with the major losses of my personal favorite Blackhawk ever Niklas Hjalmarsson, along with Marcus Kruger and Artemi Panarin.
As of Friday, the Blackhawks sit in 9th place in the Western Conference at 9-8-2 with 20 points and an equally frustrating 4-6 in their last 10. However, in their last three games, the Blackhawks have netted a whopping 17 goals. Thanks in large part to rookie, and long-awaited arrival to the big club, Alex DeBrincat.
DeBrincat has 4 goals and an assist in those 3 games. He continues to do exactly what he did for the OHL’s Erie Otters the past 3 seasons where he scored 167 goals in 193 games. The knock against him was always he wasn’t big enough (5’7”, 165) and wasn’t skilled enough with the puck to continue that pace at the NHL level. Well, he has shown the hockey world that his nose for the back of the net is not exclusive to junior hockey. He isn’t going to wow you with the puck like Patrick Kane but he does always seem to find a way to score ala Brandon Saad. You find yourself wondering how exactly he gets the puck behind the goalie, but he does, and there are no style points on the scoreboard.
In terms of how these teams match-up, I give the advantage to Chicago. As I stated, the Blackhawks appear to have found themselves offensively, and with just about every line the Penguins roll out there this season struggling defensively, my guess is the Hawks win this one 5-2.
My Hawks sweater and I will be in attendance once again in Pittsburgh, please send me any clever heckles.
