The good news is that, on Wednesday, for the first time since August, there’s a Blackhawks game on TV.
The bad news is that it’s against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
That’s the Blackhawks challenge on the first night of the 2021 regular season, which starts with Chicago in Tampa to face the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
Tampa’s lineup won’t look quite the same as it did when the Lightning were hoisting the Cup in late September. The biggest change will be at the top, where forward Nikita Kucherov is missing the entire season following hip surgery.