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The Hawks return home to the United Center for a battle with the Dallas Stars. These two teams recently played each other to end 2023, which saw the Stars win both games, including an ugly 8-1 blowout on New Year's Eve. The Hawks are coming off back-to-back 2-1 losses against the Oilers and the Jets. Despite the losses, they have put together two really good efforts. I talked about this after the Oilers game, but given the state of this team, these are the losses you don’t mind as a fan. They kept things close almost right to the end of regulation until Nikolaj Ehlers picked up the game winner with 65 seconds left in the game. Lossing a game like that when your team is contending would have us all slamming our heads against the wall, but right now it's a learning experience that the younger players need to be ready once it's time to win. Mrazek once again played a fantastic game, stopping 26 of the 28 shots he faced. He is doing everything in his power to play himself right off this team and on to a playoff contender, and quite frankly, he deserves it.
As for tonight's game, the Stars are coming to this one on a bit of a slide; they are 5-4-1 in their last 10 and are losing ground in the battle for the Central title because of it. They are on the back end of back-to-back games and coming off a 6-3 loss against the Nashville Predators. They will go back to Scott Wedgewood in net, who is 12-4-3 this season with a.895 SV%. His numbers aren’t going to put him in the Vezina conversation, but he has been coming up big when this team needs it, and the 12 wins are all that matter. While the Jets and Avalanche continue to put up wins, the Stars need to take advantage of games against the Hawks while they can.
The Hawks are going to be going with almost the exact same lineup as we have seen the last two games, with one major change. Jarred Tinordi will be a healthy scratch, and Seth Jones will take his spot for his first game since December 10th, when he faced the Capitals. I know there aren’t a lot of Jones fans out there, but this is going to be a big help in getting him back out there. He is a minute eater, averaging 25:25 this season in 27 games, and can play in all situations. When he was out there with Vlasic, it seemed like we were seeing the best version of Jones, and hopefully he can come back and find that grove again. The Hawks will also send Mrazek back in net, who is 10-15-1 with a.903 SV%.
Giveaway
I wanted to put this out there in case anyone is an Instagram user. I am giving away a Connor Bedard Prostock Stick over on the WCBPodcast Instagram page. The contest runs through Sunday night and is open to all American and Canadian residents.
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