Chicago at Ottawa

Chicago missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years mainly due to the injury to goalie Corey Crawford, who suffered from post-concussion syndrome and possibly vertigo. He is currently on injured reserve and Cam Ward will be the starter in tonight's matchup. Ward appeared in 43 games last season with a 23-14 record and 2.73 goals-against average and he was the best of five backup goaltenders that the Blackhawks used in 2017-18. Chicago still has Patrick Kane, who had a team-leading 76 points, and Jonathan Toews, though he comes off a career-low 52 points. Ottawa was forced to trade Erik Karlsson to San Jose and along with that their hopes for a successful season. Craig Anderson had a 3.32 goals-against average last season and will start tonight. The Senators lost 16 of their last 22 games against Western Conference teams and they are 20-46 their last 66 overall. Play the Blackhawks.