The Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins are two of the best teams in the NHL and they face off on Sunday night in an NBC game at 7:30 pm ET streaming from the Sports Live Extra website at the CONSOL Energy Center and both teams have 99 points as they push towards the playoffs and Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews match up as two of the top players in the game.
Chicago and Pitt have both clinched playoff spots already and now they are angling for position and while the top spots may be out of reach, they are looking to get home ice advantage for as long as possible and this could easily be a potential Stanley Cup finals preview after the Blackhawks won last season. The Penguins are one of the favorites with the Bruins in the east and Chicago comes into the game after a loss on the road against the Ottawa Senators and they will play at the United Center next against the Minnesota Wild. This matchup is a big one for both teams and the Hawks come into the game first in scoring in the league with over three goals per game and they are just out of the top 10 in net and they are allowing just over two goals per game and they are also in the top 10 in power play percentage.
The team is battling Colorado and St. Louis in the central division and they are one point behind the Avalanche and they would love to get points on Sunday night and this comes after they clinched their sixth straight playoff spot when they defeated the Coyotes. The Blues are in first place in the division and they have 107 points and have been playing very well and they may end up getting the division. The team is looking to play well down the stretch and if they can get one of the top seeds they will have a much more favorable path to the Cup finals and this year the west has been very tough and they need Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews to play well heading to the end of the year. Kane suffered an injury and he is expected back soon and now they are looking to rebound from the loss.
The Blackhawks have not lost three games in regular time in two years and they are trying to avoid that with this game against the Penguins and they have not been scoring very well lately as they have just seven goals in the last four games and Pitt has been stuck as well, putting in one less and now they both are hoping for an onslaught on Sunday night. The Penguins come into the game with Crosby leading the way and the team won 2-1 against the Blue Jackets coming in and they play against the Hurricanes next. The team is in the top 10 in all major categories, including scoring with three goals per game as well as goals against per game, power play and penalty kill percentage.
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