Sorensen Makes Major Changes to Lineup as Blackhawks Return From Christmas Break, Face Sabres in Buffalo

Tonight the Blackhawks will take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7 PM at the KeyBank Center.

The Blackhawks will take on the bottom-dwelling Buffalo Sabres, who are 12-19-4 and last in the Atlantic Division.

The last time the Blackhawks took on the Sabres was on October 19th, 2024 and the Hawks would give up 4 goals that night.

If the Blackhawks are to improve their standings, they'll have to claw themselves out of the hole they've dug. With a 12-21-2 record in the Central, this will be a barnburner, as the Hawks should come out of the holiday break, all cylinders firing.

Head Coach Anders Sorensen has made some changes to the lineup today:

The last game the Blackhawks played before the break was against the Minnesota Wild and saw the team ride with Arvid Soderblom in the net.

Now true # 1 goalie, Petr Mrazek will get back in the saddle after returning from injury tonight against Tage Thompson and the Buffalo Sabres.

Philipp Kurashev will slot in on RW4, in place of Joey Anderson who will be benched tonight.

This will be a night for Kurashev to prove he can make an impact. This season he's played 28 games, scoring only 5 points( 2 G, 3 A).

Last season on Connor Bedard's line he produced 54 points( 18 G, 36 A). He'll need to find his game again to convince Sorensen that he can be a reliable producer in the lineup.

While Petr Mrazek is the Blackhawks' starting goalie and has played 21 games, and won 7 of those, he has a 2.94 GAA, and a .902 save percentage this season.