{"id":544892,"date":"2026-04-07T04:19:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/544892\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T04:19:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:19:06","slug":"save-your-generation-blackhawks-at-sharks-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/544892\/","title":{"rendered":"Save Your Generation: Blackhawks at Sharks Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The words \u201clast\u201d and \u201cfinal\u201d continue popping up in descriptions of Blackhawks games, as Chicago wraps up the road portion of its 2025-26 season on Monday night in San Jose against the Sharks. <\/p>\n

A quick glance at the standings suggests that San Jose is the superior team, as a win in this game would insert the Sharks into a three-way tie for the second wild card spot with Nashville and Los Angeles, which already have 81 points in 76 games and San Jose at 79 in 75. But the minus-36 goal differential is just one of several signs that this San Jose side has been more fortunate than anything else this season. The Sharks have 10 wins in OT and two more in the shootout, which certainly helps \u2014 the Hawks have four and three, respectively, for comparison. The possession metrics offer additional clues, as San Jose is down by Chicago in key 5-on-5 categories like shot attempt share (46.65 percent, 29th) and expected goal share (46.33 percent, 28th), which means it doesn\u2019t possess the puck well or do much with it during those increasingly rare moments of sustained possession. Neither San Jose special teams unit is worth a soliloquy, and neither Sharks goalie (the duo of Alex Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov) can be pointed to as the reason this team seems inexplicably alive in the playoff chase. Perhaps it\u2019s all just indicative of a weak Pacific Division in a top-heavy Western Conference dominated by the teams leading the Central. <\/p>\n

What San Jose does have is one the game\u2019s brightest young stars in 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini, the top pick from the 2024 NHL Draft who\u2019s at a blistering pace of 1.41 points per game this season with 106 (41 G, 65 A) in 75 games. Behind him is 2023 No. 4 overall pick Will Smith at 54 (22 G, 32 A) in 62 and veteran Alex Wennberg at 52 (18 G, 34 A) in 74. Three other forwards have eclipsed the 40-point plateau in Tyler Toffoli, William Eklund and Collin Graf, so there\u2019s decent depth scoring here. There\u2019s also 2025 No. 2 overall pick Michael Misa here, who\u2019s been limited to just 38 games because of injuries and only has 17 points (7 G, 10 A) as he adapts to life in the NHL. The blue line is much more experienced, featuring players like Dmitry Orlov, Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg and Timothy Liljegren. We also have several old friend alerts for this game, with Nick Leddy, Phil Kurashev and Adam Gaudette all on the San Jose roster this season.<\/p>\n

Still, comparisons between the Hawks and this Sharks side will persist because each team is led by No. 1 picks from consecutive drafts, who also happen to be close friends:<\/p>\n

TRY NOT TO SAY FAMILY CHALLENGE pic.twitter.com\/dncra2Uo2U<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 gab (@whatthegraf) April 6, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

While Celebrini and his Sharks may have the edge right now in a lot of ways, future seasons will be better indicators of how well these front offices have completed their rebuilds. <\/p>\n

San Jose\u2019s expected lines are below, with Celebrini\u2019s absence chalked up to \u201cmaintenance\u201d and his inclusion in the lineup likely coming in that 1C spot occupied by Kurashev at the morning skate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As for the Hawks, the morning skate confirmed that Spencer Knight will be the starter in net<\/a>, with the rest of the lineup almost certainly being what defeated Seattle on Saturday night during one of Chicago\u2019s better collective performances this season. A similar result is possible here because of all the flaws in San Jose\u2019s game which means the nine-point gap between them and Chicago isn\u2019t quite as large as it may initially appear. <\/p>\n

Blackhawks lines in warmups at Kraken:<\/p>\n

Teravainen-Bedard-Lardis
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mikheyev
Donato-Nazar-Greene
Slaggert-Boisvert-Burakovsky <\/p>\n

Kaiser-Crevier
Vlasic-Rinzel
Korchinski-Del Mastro<\/p>\n

Soderblom<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 5, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

There could be a small lineup change occurring this evening, one that will likely be well-received by this corner of the internet:<\/p>\n

Looks like Andrew Mangiapane is back in the lineup tonight. Andr\u00e9 Burakovsky could be the odd man out, but Blashill wouldn’t reveal his lineup.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social<\/a>) April 6, 2026 at 2:14 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

Last (road) game of the year, Brent. Can\u2019t hold anything back now!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go Hawks.<\/p>\n

Tale of the Tape<\/p>\n

Blackhawks \u2014 Statistic \u2014 Sharks
45.66% (30th) \u2014 5-on-5 Corsi For \u2014 46.56% (29th)
42.40% (32nd) \u2014 5-on-5 Expected goals for \u2014 46.33% (28th)
2.56 (32nd) \u2014 Goals per game \u2014 3.05 (t-17th)
3.22 (25th) \u2014 Goals against per game \u2014 3.55 (31st)
46.1% (31st) \u2014 Faceoffs \u2014 47.6% (t-26th)
17.8% (24th) \u2014 Power play \u2014 20.7% (t-16th)
83.8% (2nd) \u2014 Penalty kill \u2014 77.9% (t-20th)
(All stats from this season)<\/p>\n

How to watch<\/p>\n

When:\u00a09 p.m. CT
Where:\u00a0SAP Center, San Jose
TV:\u00a0CHSN
Webstream:\u00a0ESPN+
Radio:\u00a0WGN 720<\/p>\n

\t