Blackhawks home opener preview: How to watch for free, lineups and more vs San Jose Sharks Thursday

Both teams are in different levels of their rebuilds as the sharks have added several prospects including the first overall pick in the 2024 draft Macklin Celebrini in hopes that they can reverse their disastrous fortunes that have plagued them for the past couple of years.

The Blackhawks on the other hand would like to return to the win column as the team has gone 1-2-1 throughout its first four games of the season. The San Jose Sharks are currently mired in a three-game slide, and they too hope to reverse the losses.

The Blackhawks will face a Sharks team that is anxiously awaiting Celebrini's return as he had been placed on injury reserve. Sharks Willam Eklund could also be absent as he will be a game time decision. It will also put on hold the dream match up against Bedard and Celebrini as many feel across the NHL that this will be the head matchup to watch in the coming years.

The Blackhawks meanwhile will not have goaltender Laurent Brossoit as continues to battle his injury. With the Sharks, Blackhawks players like Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen, Philipp Kurashev and Nick Foligno could have a good night on the scoreboard.

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The Blackhawks organization is also celebrating 30 years of the United Center since it opened on August 18th 1994. Fantastic memories have been created in this building and many hope that the Connor Bedard era will bring more to fans.

It should still prove to be an entertaining game with the Blackhawks holding more talent than the Sharks. The game will take place on October 17th and game time will be 8:30 PM eastern.