A pair of swings and misses is not how I wanted to return to DeadspinBut there is still a whole weekend ahead and a rare two-set excursion to go through Saturday.
From the late slate tonight we focus on a matchup between two Western conference bottom feeders.
The Chicago Blackhawks are of course anchored near the basement for the fourth straight season. To oppose them will be Anaheim Ducks, which is not as low in the position but which is still outside a playoffs and in danger of missing the season for a seventh year in a row.
Crime has been the biggest question for both sides, as the ducks score the smallest goals per match in the league with 2.55. In the meantime, Chicago is barely in front of them, on average only 2.66. Stout goalkeeper can keep things tight tonight.
None of the starting goals have been confirmed yet, but after Petr Mrazek has been tagged for five goals on Wednesday evening – his second consecutive excursion with that result – we can predict Arvid Soderblom as starting network minister.
While the hawks are holding another disappointing campaign, Soderblom has been one of the few light spots. The 25-year-old has his best season so far and publishes career best ratings in the goal-for average (3.02) and saving percent (.906).
Soderblom’s game also seems to have driven him past Mrazek for the starting job. His record of 7-15-5 may not shine, but as with start buttons in baseball, a win-loss record is not always indicative of performance. The Blackhawks goals are facing more shots per match (31.71) than everyone except another team (San Jose Sharks).
Despite this, a matchup with the NHL’s lowest point team can help mitigate that tendency. In addition, we have the guy we want behind the pipes in Soderblom.
Allowing many pictures and generating very little crime is obviously not a recipe for success. We depend on the latter habit, as Chicago is on average the smallest pictures per match in the NHL (24.8).
There are definitely some talented riders in the Blackhawks crime – such as Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato – but the lack of depth outside them really puts a hat on the team’s collective points.
Regardless of who is in the network for the ducks, there will be someone reliable. Lukas Dostal had a very strong first half of the season and served cross-border all-Star-overbinding-hade the game was played this year. John Gibson is a consistently strong veteran.
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