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Monday, April 12, 2021 - 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally’s Sports Ohio - Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Second City Hockey
Chicago Blackhawks (19-18-5, 43 points, 5th Central)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (15-20-8, 38 points, 7th Central)
The Columbus Blue Jackets wrap up their two game set and season series with the Blackhawks tonight, having lost Saturday night’s game by a final score of 4-3. The Jackets started off strong with a pair of goals in the first three minutes of the game, but fizzled out shortly after, giving up four straight goals. The Blackhawks are only four points behind the Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot in the division, and will look to complete the sweep of the lottery-bound Blue Jackets.
Undoubtedly this one will be weird for the Jackets with so much change in such a short period of time. Considering they’ve had trouble getting up for games when it really mattered, it will be interesting to see if they can match the intensity of a team in the thick of things.
Player to Watch
Patrik Laine
Laine finally broke through and got back on the scoresheet after a 15 games with out a goal. Often a player like him just needs to have something good happen and see the puck in the back of the net to get going. According to Laine’s former (and maybe future?) coach Jukka Jalonen, Patrik’s struggles are “between the ears.” The talent is there, but it’s clear the guy is trying to do too much or at least thinking too much, and as a result isn’t doing much of anything. It will be interesting to see if he can build off his latest bit of success.
That is if he isn’t traded by 3pm ET of course...
“…But it could be that he’s a luxury the Blue Jackets won’t be able to fully enjoy in the near future. If that’s the case, Kekalainen could have some interesting phone calls in the next 24 hours.”
— CBJ Coverage (@CBJcoverage) April 11, 2021
Jackets Notes
This past weekend officially marked the end of an era. There are no expectations anymore for this team, and without a captain it will be very interesting to see who steps into leadership roles. Oliver Bjorkstrand has recently mentioned taking on a leadership role, so he’s worth keeping an eye on in that regard. Does Seth Jones assume the role of de facto captain?
We now wait and see what the final roster will look like for the rest of this season and beyond. With Jarmo allegedly listening to offers on names like Max Domi and Patrik Laine, it’ll definitely be a tension filled afternoon with a lot of Twitter refreshing.
The Other Bench
With the Nashville Predators winning yesterday, the Hawks now find themselves four points out of the last spot, so they’ll be looking to keep pace. In just seven games against the Blue Jackets this year, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat have combined for 22 points and have dominated the season series. The Blackhawks have won the previous four matchups against the Jackets.
The Blackhawks have already made one trade prior to the deadline (mostly for the rights to Henrik Borgstrom), but find themselves in a tricky position as to whether or not they should buy or sell. Chances are good its a quiet deadline day for the Blackhawks,
Season Series
Jan 29: CBJ 2 @ CHI 1
Jan 31: CBJ 1 @ CHI 3
Feb 11: CBJ 6 @ CHI 5
Feb 13: CBJ 2 @ CHI 3 (OT)
Feb 23: CHI 6 @ CBJ 5
Feb 25: CHI 2 @ CBJ 0
Apr 10: CHI 4@ CBJ 3
Apr 12: CHI @ CBJ
Stats
Chicago | Columbus | |
---|---|---|
2.76 (17) | GPG | 2.49 (27) |
3.10 (20) | GAPG | 3.21 (24) |
24.4% (7) | PP% | 14.0% (28) |
73.3% (30) | PK% | 78.1% (19) |
46.8% (28) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 46.2% (30) |
46.1% (31) | 5v5 Unblocked shot attempt % | 47% (28) |
7.3 (25) | 5v5 Shot % | 7.4 (23) |
.910 (14) | 5v5 Save % | .905 (22) |
Alex DeBrincat, 21 | G Leader | Oliver BJORKSTRAND, 14 |
Patrick Kane, 38 | A Leader | Jack Roslovic, 20 |
Patrick Kane, 52 | P Leader | Oliver BJORKSTRAND, 32 |
Nikita Zadarov, 31 | PIM Leader | Max Domi, 39 |
8-10-3 | Home / Road | 8-8-6 |
2-7-1 | Last 10 | 5-5 |
Projected Lineups
*subject to change (as usual)
Oliver BJORKSTRAND | Max Domi | Patrik Laine |
Mikhail Grigorenko | Jack Roslovic | Cam Atkinson |
Eric Robinson | Alexandre Texier | Zac Dalpe |
Stefan Matteau | Kevin Stenlund | Kole Sherwood |
Michael Del Zotto | Seth Jones |
Vladislav Gavrikov | Dean Kukan |
Mikko Lehtonen | Scott Harrington |
Joonas Korpisalo |
Elvis Merzlikins |
Alex DeBrincat | Kirby Dach | Patrick Kane |
Mattias Janmark | Pius Suter | Dylan Strome |
Dominik Kubalik | Phillipp Kurashev | Vinnie Hinostroza |
Brandon Hagel | David Kampf | Ryan Carpenter |
Nikita Zadorov | Connor Murphy |
Duncan Keith | Adam Boqvist |
Calvin de Haan | Wyatt Kalynuk |
Kevin Lankinen |
Malcolm Subban |