Winnipeg Jets (54-21-4) at Chicago Blackhawks (23-46-10)
Venue: United Center
Date: Tonight – Saturday, April 12th
Time: 6:00 pm CST
TV: Sportsnet
Radio: 680 CJOB
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Chicago Blackhawks +1.5 ML +250
Winnipeg Jets -1.5 ML -310
O/U 5.5
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Chicago Blackhawks News & Notes:
Tonight’s game for Chicago is the last of Patrick Maroon’s long NHL career. The three-time Stanley Cup Champion decided to choose the Blackhawks’ final home game of 2024-25 for an early retirement. Maroon made his NHL debut on October 25th, 2011, in Chicago. For Maroon, it must’ve been an easy decision for him to close out his career in the building where it all started.
The Blackhawks have averaged 2.7 goals per game and 3.6 goals against per game, which is near the bottom of the league in both categories. Their power play percentage is 23.8%, and their penalty kill percentage is 80.3%. Both their power play and penalty kill rank 11th in the league.
Winnipeg Jets News & Notes:
A lot of talk around the Jets lately has been about whether their season should declare them as the team to beat and how they should rest their most important player. The Jets have, without a doubt, surpassed all odds for the 2024-25 season, where most critics thought they’d be in the wildcard race without sniffing the Central Division crown and maybe even the Presidents’ Trophy.
Regardless of whether the Jets and Blackhawks go to overtime or if the Jets win in regulation, one point is the magic number for Winnipeg to clinch the Central Division. If the Jets do clinch the Central Division, it will be the first time in the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 franchise that they’ve achieved such a feat.
With a three-point lead over the Washington Capitals for the Presidents’ Trophy, three points is the magic number for Winnipeg to clinch its first franchise Presidents’ Trophy. If Washington loses another game, Winnipeg can clinch the Presidents’ Trophy with just two points.
The Jets have averaged 3.4 goals per game, which is third in the NHL, and 2.3 goals against per game, which is first in the league. The Jets’ powerplay is also first in the league at 29.1% while their penalty kill is 15th at 79.5%.
Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lines
Oliver Moore – Connor Bedard – Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen – Frank Nazar – Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato – Nick Foligno – Philipp Kurashev
Landon Slaggert – Joe Veleno – Pat Maroon
Alex Vlasic – Sam Rinzel
Alec Martinez* – Connor Murphy*
Wyatt Kaiser* – Artyom Levshunov
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
*Denotes game-time decision
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Alex Iafallo
Nikolaj Ehlers – Vladislav Namestnikov – Cole Perfetti
Nino Niederreiter – Adam Lowry – Mason Appleton
Brandon Tanev – Morgan Barron – Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey – Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg – Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley – Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Players To Watch:
Chicago Blackhawks
Pat Maroon will be looking to finish his NHL career with a bang, whether that’s in a physical sense or by a scoring outburst, he will be making himself known on the ice.
The Blackhawks will be relying on players like Connor Bedard, Ryan Donato, Artyom Levshunov and Frank Nazar to really lean into their skillset against a team like Winnipeg. The Blackhawks’ season is nearly done, but the chance for some of these players to showcase themselves is becoming minimal and there is no better time to do it than the present.
Spencer Knight will be looking to continue to build his case as the goaltender of the future in Chicago. Since his acquisition from Florida, Knight has been quietly steady even on the Central Division basement Blackhawks.
Winnipeg Jets
Connor Hellebuyck has single-handedly stolen games for the Winnipeg Jets this season, and now he will be looking to add to his resume as the season is so close to finishing up. While Hellebuyck is the unconfirmed starter as of now, if he adds a couple more wins to his resume with good numbers, he should be in the running for the first goaltender quadruple crown of the major goalie stats since 1896. There’s a good chance Hellebuyck wins the Vezina and Jennings trophy again this season, alongside what should be his highest Hart Trophy nomination and or finish.
In every game, Cole Perfetti has shown flashes of brilliance, and it comes off the fact that his line of Namestnikov and Ehlers has been driving play, and even if they don’t put up a goal, they make their mark known. Perfetti is due to have another couple of big moments before the playoffs start.
Another line driving play is the Jets’ fourth line of Tanev, Barron, and Anderson-Dolan. The strong trio have really cemented itself as the Jets’ identity line heading into the playoffs.
Injury Report:
Chicago Blackhawks
G Laurent Brossoit – LTIR – Knee, Out for Season
C Jason Dickinson – Out, Wrist
D Colton Dach – Out, Elbow
D Wyatt Kaiser – Day-to-Day, Illness
D Connor Murphy – Day-to-Day, Illness
Winnipeg Jets
RW Gabriel Vilardi – IR – UBI, Week-to-Week
C Rasmus Kupari – Out, Concussion
Next game
Chicago Blackhawks – April 14th at Montreal
Winnipeg Jets – April 13th vs Edmonton
ITR 36: Coaching Carousel – Inside The Rink
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