Five Things to Watch: Blackhawks aim to stay hot vs. Canucks tonight on CSN Plus

Share

Watch as the Blackhawks take on the Vancouver Canucks tonight on CSN Plus and streaming live on CSNChicago.com. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. with Blackhawks Pregame Live. Then stick around after the final buzzer to watch Blackhawks Postgame Live for highlights and analysis.

Click here to watch the game or download the NBC Sports App, your home for live streaming coverage of the Blackhawks.

Five Things to Watch:

1. Jonathan Toews heating up again.

The Blackhawks captain went through a difficult stretch offensively towards the middle part of the season, and broke through when he had one goal and three assists in a 4-2 win over Vancouver on Jan. 22. Since then, only Brad Marchand (35) and Patrick Kane (32) have had more points than Toews (31). He extended his point streak to four games with a two-goal effort in Sunday's 6-3 victory over Colorado, and will look to keep it going tonight.

2. Canucks banged up.

The Canucks have lost six straight games, and it's not helping that players are dropping like flies as the season winds down. Loui Eriksson remains out with a leg injury. Erik Gudbranson (wrist) has been out since December. Brendan Gaunce (upper-body injury) and Jacob Markstrom (food poisoning) didn't travel to Chicago. Nikolay Goldobin is battling an illness. And Markus Granlund, who ranks second on the team with 19 goals, has been shut down for the season to undergo wrist surgery. They're a vulnerable group right now.

3. Take advantage on special teams.

Special teams hasn't been a kind area for the Canucks this season. Their power play is the third-worst unit in the league at 13.8 percent, and their penalty kill unit ranks 26th with a 77.6 percent success rate. The good news for the Canucks is that they're one of the least-penalized teams, but when they do go down a man, it's often trouble. They're 3-for-6 on the PK in their last three games, having allowed one in each of them.

4. Nick Schmaltz showing improvement at the dot?

Since moving to center for the injured Artem Anisimov, Schmaltz is 10-for-50 at the faceoff circle, which comes out to be a 20 percent success rate. His season percentage has slipped to 28.9, by far the lowest total among players who have taken at least 200 attempts. He showed some improvement in that department Sunday against Colorado when he went 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) after going 5-for-35 (14.3 percent) in the previous three games. Progress.

5. Richard Panik approaching 20 goals.

With a goal on Sunday, Panik increased his career-high goal total to 19; his previous season-high was 11, set in 2014-15. One more goal puts him at 20, which would make him the sixth Blackhawks player this season to reach the 20-goal mark. Ryan Hartman isn't far away, either, from potentially making it a seventh. They had only four 20-goal scorers last season. 

Buy tickets to tonight's game here!

- Check out the latest stats and standings to make sure you’re ready for action

- Channel Finder: Make sure you know where to watch

- NBC Sports App FAQ: All your questions answered

- Latest on the Blackhawks: All of the most recent news and notes

- See what Blackhawks fans are talking about before, during and after the game with Blackhawks Pulse

Contact Us