Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Chicago Blackhawks (6-1-2) and Tampa Bay Lightning (5-3-0) faceoff live from the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The game can be live streamed here. Chicago fans can hear all the bone-crunching action by turning their dials to 720 WGN while Tampa Bay fans can do the same by adjusting their dials to 620 WDAE.
It's the second of two meetings between these clubs this season after the Lightning topped the Blackhawks on Oct. 5 with a 3-2 shootout win in Chicago. The Lightning sit in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs, while the Blackhawks are second in the Central Division and just two points behind the first place Colorado Avalanche.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks are looking for a sweep of their Florida trip after defeating the Florida Panthers in a shootout Tuesday, and have only lost once in regulation through their first nine games. While their start has been good, Chicago squandered a two-goal third period lead against Florida before topping it in the shootout.
"We're not happy with giving up leads in the third period," Patrick Sharp, whose shootout goal ended the game, told NHL.com. "We'd like to close teams out by scoring in the third period and get out of here."
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back after being routed 5-0 by the Boston Bruins on Saturday. The Lightning opened up its seven-game homestand with three straight victories before Boston dominated them, and they'll look to get back on the right page after a rough loss.
"This was a little bit of a statement game for us, and I guess it turned out to be a statement game, just not the way we wanted," coach Jon Cooper said afterward per NHL.com. "I felt like we were the old Tampa Bay Lightning. We went back to some poor habits, which led to poor execution, which led to poor play."
The Lightning has been paced by Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, who each have 10 points. Stamkos has five goals and five assists while St. Louis has four tallies and six helpers. Teddy Purcell has eight points off of four goals and four assists.
Chicago counters with a balanced attack that has been led by Patrick Kane (four goals, two assists), Brandon Saad (two goals, four assists) and Niklas Hjalmarsson (no goals, six assists), who lead the team with six points each.
In net, Chicago looks to Corey Crawford, who has started eight out of nine games between the pipes for them while posting a 5-1-2 record with a 2.04 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. Ben Bishop has played most of the games for Tampa Bay this season, starting six of nine games while posting a 5-1-0 record with a 2.11 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
Chicago will look to complete a Florida state sweep while Tampa Bay hopes to bounce back after a tough loss to Boston when the puck drops on these two teams tonight.
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