Scott Darling starts, Marian Hossa ‘likely' in as Blackhawks seek to clinch playoff berth

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Scott Darling will start and Marian Hossa is expected to be back in the lineup when the Blackhawks face the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.

Per the NHL, there are a couple of ways the Blackhawks could clinch a playoff spot tonight:

  • If they beat the Avalanche in regulation or overtime and the Los Angeles Kings lose to the Calgary Flames in any fashion or beat the Flames in a shootout. Or,
  • if they beat the Avalanche in a shootout and the Kings lose to the Flames in any way. Or,
  • if they get one point against the Avalanche and the Kings lose to the Flames in regulation.

Hossa missed Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a lower-body injury but coach Joel Quenneville said Hossa is “likely” to play vs. the Avalanche. The last time the Blackhawks had a back-to-back Quenneville rested Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya, both of whom were coming off recent injuries. Quenneville said, “maybe one of them might not play” vs. the Avalanche. It seems it’s more likely to be a rest night for Oduya.

The Blackhawks have won four in a row and, entering Sunday night’s games, hold a five-point lead over the Minnesota Wild, who are playing the Winnipeg Jets. Although the Wild have lost four games in a row – a season high for them – Quenneville isn’t expecting that skid to last.

“I see them finding a way to get some points here,” he said. “I know everyone has good and bad streaks. We’ve seen a streaky year from a lot of teams that had excellent runs and they had a big run. We still think they’re a very dangerous team, capable of winning every single night, and [have] real balance to their lineup. Don’t get comfortable being in the position we’re in. We were in the position they’re [now] in earlier in the year and they were in the position we’re in today, so let’s just keep trying to push ahead.”

The Avalanche have lost three of four, including a 5-1 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Broadcast information:

Time: 6 p.m.

TV: WGN

Radio: WGN 720 AM

Chicago Blackhawks (projected)

Forward lines

John Hayden-Jonathan Toews-Richard Panik

Artemi Panarin-Nick Schmaltz-Patrick Kane

Ryan Hartman-Tanner Kero-Marian Hossa

Andrew Desjardins-Marcus Kruger-Jordin Tootoo

Defensive pairs

Duncan Keith-Niklas Hjalmarsson

Michal Kempny-Brent Seabrook

Brian Campbell-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goaltender

Scott Darling

Injuries/illness: Artem Anisimov (left leg)

 

Colorado Avalanche (projected)

Forward lines

Gabriel Landeskog-Matt Duchene-Rene Bourque

Sven Andrighetto-Nathan Mackinnon-Mikko Rantanen

John Mitchell-Carl Soderberg-Blake Comeau

Mikhail Grigorenko-JT Compher-Joe Colborne

Defensive Pairs

Erik Johnson-Mark Barberio

Fedor Tyutin-Tyson Barrie

Anton Lindholm-Francois Beauchemin

Goaltender

Calvin Pickard

Injuries/illness:: Semyon Varlamov (hip), Nikita Zadorov (broken ankle), Matt Nieto (knee)

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