Luke Richardson's Major Shakeup of the Blackhawks Lines art Practice Monday
After the Chicago Blackhawks' devastating overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers this weekend,Luke Richardson is changing things up .
The 3-2 loss, showed a weakness in multiple areas on the ice, including offense and defense.
They couldn't provide support for Petr Mrazek, and Matvei Michkov put a knife in the heart of a comeback win Saturday afternoon.
Now, with a matchup with the Dallas Stars on the horizon, they will have to figure out how to defend and win against an elite team.
While they did prove themselves recently, with a win against the former Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, they'll have to be consistent.
Richardson's new look lines, don't look so bad, as finally Philipp Kurashev is reunited with Connor Bedard, and Taylor Hall will flank him to the left. Kurashev's chemistry with Bedard was demonstrated last season, with the left-shot forward tallying 50+ points paired with Bedard.
While Hall needs to rejuvenate his play, this could be a chance for Richardson to spark some offense with the former Hart Trophy winner.
With Jason Dickinson out, Ryan Donato skated with Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen. Which could be a great line, if there's chemistry to there between the three players.
While the third line consists of gritty players like Nick Foligno, Ilya Mikheyev, and Joey Anderson. A forechecking line of players who aren't afraid to get dirty, and contribute on all-zones on the ice.
Lastly, the fourth line remains unchanged as they are a reliable driver of offense, and were responsible for the 2-0 lead against Philadelphia.
Jason Dickinson could return to the lineup soon after his maintenance day and the lines could change, but nothing confirmed for now.
Hopefully, a massive change like this could spark the kind of offense needed in the top six.
According to MoneyPuck, the Pat Maroon-Lukas Reichel-Craig Smith line remains the best for the Hawks, with 3.44 goals for production per 60 minutes. While being on the ice for 5 goals for and only 1 against.
