PREVIEW: Blackhawks Wrap Opening Trip in Pittsburgh

TIME: 6 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH | RADIO: WGN 720-AM | STREAM:
MyTeamsApp
(In Market) &
ESPN+
(Out of Market)
Fresh off the first point of the season, the Blackhawks look to close out their season-opening trip with the full allotment on Saturday night as they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins.

TEAM RECORDS

• CHI:0-1-1, 1 PT (3rd in Central)
• PIT: 1-0-1, 3 PTS (1st in Metropolitan)

HOW TO WATCH

Don't miss a minute of the action on Saturday night as John Wiedeman and Eddie Olczyk bring you the call once again on NBC Sports Chicago. Joseph Zakrzewski and Colin Fraser will also have you covered on WGN Radio 720-AM.
For the second straight night, Andrew Shaw and Colby Cohen join Pat Boyle for pre and postgame coverage on NBC Sports Chicago beginning at 5:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

The Blackhawks fell behind in the opening from for the second game in a row on Friday night in New Jersey, but stormed back late in the contest to force overtime and collect the first point of the season in a 4-3 OT loss. Alex DeBrincat netted his first of the season in the second period on the power play before Dominik Kubalik and Kirby Dach scored in the final four minutes of play to tie the game 3-3 with mere seconds to spare.
Pittsburgh is coming off an overtime defeat of their own on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers, 5-4, after seeing a 4-2 lead evaporate in the third period. Kris Letang (4A) and Jeff Carter (1G, 2A) lead the team in scoring through the opening two contests.

BACK WHERE IT BEGAN

It won't be a totally new experience for Marc-Andre Fleury to face his former team on Saturday night, but it will still be a cherished moment in the Blackhawks' lone trip to Pittsburgh for the veteran goaltender who has admitted he doesn't know what his playing future holds beyond this year.
"I was there for 14 years. The team's changed a lot, a lot of players are gone, but still have good friends on the team and the staff's been around for a very long time," he said on Friday.
It will mark just the third time Fleury has traveled back to PPG Paints Arena as a visiting netminder. It's part of the territory when you play for a Western Conference team, only getting to see each Eastern Conference city once a year.
The coaching staff in Chicago turned to Kevin Lankinen in net on Friday night to make sure that Fleury could have center stage on Saturday in front of his longtime fans.
"The fans are always very welcoming and always have such a good experience in Pittsburgh," he said. "It's always fun to go back."
In 13 seasons in Pittsburgh, Fleury captured a trio of Stanley Cups -- one of the few around the league who can match the total number of rings new teammates Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews boast. But it's the manner in which the Penguins won those Cups that his new teammates hope the Blackhawks can emulate soon. After capturing the Cup in 2009, just his fifth season in the NHL, he waited seven more years -- retooling and rebuilding the roster -- to hoist Lord Stanley again, winning in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017.
"Every year you expect to get back and win it again. Every time you don't it's a failure. That's why it gets so frustrating," he said of the years between. "I'm glad I was part of those teams that won, won again a little later. We were fortunate… Everyone pulled their weight and did a great job, whatever they can to get back there. It's not easy, there's now 32 teams trying to win every year and everybody has the same goal, so it's never an easy task. Just got to keep working at it, try to get better every year and every night, don't think too far away, and try to go for it."

POWER UP

Chicago's power play has proven lethal through the opening two games of the season, scoring three times in eight attempts thus far.
All three power play goals have come at important times, too -- getting a goal at the end of the first on Wednesday in Colorado to shift momentum down 3-0, tying the game 1-1 on Friday night and then to pull within one later in the contest.
"It got us back into it a couple times. We feel confident in both groups," head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "Teams are going to adjust, so we're going to have to stay ahead of it, but when you have the skill that we do have out there and if you look, there's a lot of hockey sense out there, teams are going to have to solve it on their own sometimes, and that makes you feel good when we have those guys on the ice.

GROWING PAINS

While the Blackhawks have had strong stretches over the course of their two games thus far, it's been uncharacteristic missteps that have ultimately proven the difference to start the trip.
With so many new faces on the roster -- six brand new in the starting lineup, with another two playing a handful of games late last year and another coming back to the team after nearly 20 months away -- the adjustment period isn't a big surprise. But still a frustrating one nonetheless.
"There's definitely some of that," Jonathan Toews said after Friday's OT loss. "Linemates, D partners, guys being comfortable in the room to speak their mind -- those things will fall into place. Guys will get more comfortable and we'll get better as a team in all areas of the game. I'm not worried about that."
"There's a few new guys on the team. Sometimes it's just getting used to each other. Every player has their own habits or style," Fleury added. "Obviously we have a system in place and we all have to get used to it and make it come easy without thinking… that will just come with games played."