Game #7 Preview: Blue Jackets Host Blackhawks

Saturday, October 20, 2018 – 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 102.5 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Second City Hockey

Columbus Blue Jackets (4-2-0, 8 points, t-2nd Metro, t-5th East)

vs.

Chicago Blackhawks (3-1-2, 8 point, 4th Central, t-5th West)

If there is a hockey game and no one attends, does it really happen? Columbus fans may be fewer in number thanks to a certain football team playing another prime time game. The Blackhawks bandwagon may not show up in droves as much as they used to thanks to their team failing to make the postseason last year. Cheer up, Hawks “faithful.” Being a fan for 10 years is a good run.

Player to Watch

Sonny Milano

We talked about Sonny yesterday. Most of you disagree with me, and think Sonny deserves to play a lot more tonight. Will he finally get his chance? He got a goal on Thursday to ice the Jackets’ victory, and let’s hope that boosts his confidence going into today. An early score from that fourth line could set the pace for Columbus and earn that line more minutes later in the game.

Jackets Notes

Yesterday, Coach John Tortorella revealed that Seth Jones was a participant in the full team practice. Tuesday will mark 4 weeks since he suffered his knee injury, which carried a 4-6 week recovery time. The return of Jones (which won’t happen tonight) will help the defense a ton. Zach Werenski gets his partner back, and David Savard becomes a great asset on the third pair.

The Other Bench

Corey Crawford made his first start on Thursday after not playing since December of last year. Our colleagues at Second City Hockey were pleased with his performance in a loss … Our old friend Brandon Saad is off to another slow start, with just 2 assists in 6 games so far.

Season Series

10/20/2018 CHI @ CBJ
02/16/2019 CBJ @ CHI

Stats

Projected Lineups