RECAP
Chicago dropped a 4-0 decision to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday evening at Ball Arena ... It was the final game of the Blackhawks’ season opening five-game road trip ... Connor Murphy shared first among all game skaters with three blocked shots, tying a season high (Oct. 16 at TOR) ... Ryan Donato posted a game-high two takeaways ... Connor Bedard led all Blackhawks’ forwards with 19:37 of time on ice ... Petr Mrazek made his third start of the season and made 37 saves.
VS. VEGAS
The Blackhawks are 4-3-2 against the Golden Knights in their last nine games since the start of the 2019-20 campaign ... Chicago has also taken points in four of their last five games against Vegas at the United Center dating back to Jan. 12, 2019 ... Taylor Hall has eight points (3G, 5A) in eight career games against Vegas, including points (1G, 1A) in his last two matchups against the club ... During their last meeting on Feb. 21, Tyler Johnson notched two points (1G, 1A), including the game tying goal and the shootout winner ... Taylor Raddysh chipped in an assist during a 3-2 shootout victory at the United Center.
WELCOME HOME
Chicago will celebrate their home opener against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday evening ... It’ll be the first time that Chicago has ever hosted the Golden Knights in their first home game of a season ... The Blackhawks are 40-34-22 all- time in home openers ... During the 2022-23 campaign, Chicago opened the home portion of their schedule with a 4-3 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings ... Andreas Athanasiou, Philipp Kurashev and Connor Murphy all scored once during the victory.
PETR PAN
With 37 saves against Colorado, goaltender Petr Mrazek has now recorded 30+ saves in all three of his starts this season ... He has made a total of 109 saves this season, which ranks second best among all NHL goalies ... His .924 save percentage ranks sixth best among all league goalies who have played in three-plus games ... Additionally, Mrazek has faced 118 shots, which ranks fifth most in the NHL.
POWER KILL
Through five games this season, the Blackhawks penalty kill unit has successfully killed off 13-of-14 (92.3%) power play opportunities against ... Their penalty kill currently shares ninth best in the NHL ... Seth Jones leads all Blackhawks’ skaters with an average shorthanded time on ice of 2:19 per game, while also leading the team with 13 blocked shots.
