After dropping 4 straight games and a poor first line effort, Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville is shaking up the Blackhawks lines again.
Going into tonight’s matchup against the Washington Capitals the Blackhawks line combinations look like this:
Hartman – Toews – Hayden
Saad – Anisimov – Kane
Bouma – Schmaltz – DeBrincat
Sharp – Wingels – Panik
No this is not a bad dream these are actually the lines we could see skating on the ice against the Capitals. If Quenneville isn’t careful these line combinations could end up in a toxic waste dumpsite somewhere in Nevada.
The only line that makes any sense would be the second line, Kane and Saad have had some chemistry in previous seasons. I think Schmaltz would be a better option to center that line because Anisimov and Saad are interchangeable.
The first line has been brutal the past few games. Toews has been the only consistent member of that line with 7 points in 10 games. Panik looks like he’s just going through the motions, I’ve seen enough of him on the top line. Saad has been going through a very rough patch, recently he’s looked better.
On Sunday against the Kings Hayden was put on the first line and was more noticeable than Panik. Hayden has been doing a lot of things right and the coaching staff has taken notice, hopefully he can take this chance and run with it.
As we all know Queneville will end up changing the lines during the game, so don’t take these combinations too seriously.
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