The Blackhawks are really going to need to figure out how to win early on this year if they do what they did last year and fade. The Blackhawks in the preseason did not really show up as big of a team as you would have expected as the team dropped the last 2 games they played, but also ended up with a 2-3 record in the last 5 games. In fact, the last 2 games for the Blackhawks was one that the offense and defense both went missing in the game.
Patrick Kane is coming back for the Blackhawks, but last year he did look like he lost a step. The downside is if Kane has lost a step they could have some problems in getting the Blackhawks off to a good start. The other question mark for the Blackhawks come in the form of the health of Corey Crawford and how much he can really push the team this year from the net.
The Flyers on the season have really had some problems in the preseason and sadly the Flyers did play decent last year, but did they do enough to really improve to the point of being able to make a major change? Well, the downside is the Flyers made some changes, but if the preseason is any type of omen the team could have some serious issues heading into the game here.
The Flyers have Sean Couturier coming back this year and he managed to play well and should be a nice balance to Claude Giroux in this game and that can help the Flyers out quite a bit. Not to mention the Flyers have Brian Elliott who should make the start in net to guide the team.
