Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET, the Pittsburgh Penguins (40-15-4, 84 points) and Chicago Blackhawks (35-12-4, 74 points) faceoff live from Solider Field in Chicago as part of the NHL Stadium Series. The game can be live streamed here. Pittsburgh fans can hear all of the action on 105.9 WXDX while Chicago fans can do the same on 720 WGN.
This is the fourth and final installment of the 2014 NHL Stadium Series that also saw the Anaheim Ducks defeat the Los Angeles Kings at Dodgers Stadium and the New York Rangers top the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders three days apart at Yankee Stadium.
It's also the fifth of six outdoor games this season as along with the other three Stadium Series games, the Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings at Michigan stadium took place on New Year's Day. The Heritage Classic between the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks at BC Place will close out the slew of outdoor games on Sunday.
Two of the top teams in the NHL go head-to-head as the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins take on the Blackhawks, who are third in the Western Conference and are the defending Stanley Cup champions. This is the first of two meetings between these teams this season.
The Penguins, coming off of a 6-5 home shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, will view this game as a measuring stick against the defending champions in what could be a prelude to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"You might have three opponents like this for our team," coach Dan Bylsma said via NHL.com. "You're playing a Western Conference team and we don't play them very often. They are Stanley Cup champs and, again, one of the best teams, best records in the league."
The Blackhawks are hoping that this outdoor game will be more pleasant than the 2009 Winter Classic that saw Chicago lose to the rival Red Wings 6-4.
"I think we look back on the game in 2009 and I think all of us say that we wish we would've won that game," forward Patrick Kane told NHL.com. "It would've made things a little bit better. Knowing what happened in that experience obviously teaches us a lesson and we know that we want to win bad this time around."
Kane leads the Blackhawks with 63 points off of 27 goals and 36 assists while Patrick Sharp has 28 tallies and 30 helpers for 58 points and captain Jonathan Toews has lit the lamp 19 times and added 36 assists for 55 points.
Sidney Crosby has four points in his last three games and paces the Penguins with an NHL-leading 80 points off of 29 goals and 51 assists while Evgeni Malkin has 18 markers and 42 helpers for 60 points and Chris Kunitz has found the twine 27 times while adding 28 assists for 55 points. James Neal (21-26-47) has points in six straight games.
Marc-Andre Fleury will man the crease for Pittsburgh, and he is 31-13-3 with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage while Corey Crawford will play between the pipes for Chicago, and he is 22-10-10 with a 2.35 GAA and a .916 save percentage.
The Penguins and Blackhawks take it outside when the puck drops at Soldier Field tonight in Chicago to close out the NHL Stadium Series.
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