Game Preview #28 - Look Who's Points-Streaking NOW!

Chicago Blackhawks at Columbus Blue Jackets

March 14, 2013 - 7:00pm EDT
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Second City Hockey
SBNation Game Page
Tickets

Oh, how the tables have turned! Well, OK, not really, but the Jackets are currently riding an eight-game points streak, whereas the Blackhawks are riding a two-game losing streak. So, there that is.

Nevermind the 20 points that separate the two teams in the standings. These aren't the droids you're looking for.

News out of Columbus is the Nikita Nikitin may not play tonight due to an unspecified injury. Rob Mixer reports that Nikitin practiced for a couple of minutes this morning, but left the ice early. Doesn't sound good. Cody Goloubef got the emergency recall yesterday and would draw in for Niki6 on the third pairing. For Chicago, they're missing Patrick Sharp from their second line, but that hasn't slowed down Patrick Kane at all.

Sergei Bobrovsky and Corey Crawford will be in the nets tonight.

Also of note: this is the final matchup of the season between these two teams, and thus their last divisional matchup. Since the Jackets are (presumably) moving East next year and the Hawks are staying in the West, thankfully this might be one of the last times we see an invasion of bandwagoners at Nationwide tonight. This brings me happiness.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(10-12-5, 25 Points; 5th division, 13th conference)

R.J. Umberger	Ryan Johansen	Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert	Brandon Dubinsky	Cam Atkinson
Vinny Prospal	Derick Brassard	Mark Letestu
Colton Gillies	Nick Drazenovic	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Jack Johnson
Tim Erixon	Adrian Aucoin
Cody Goloubef	Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky

Steve Mason

Chicago Blackhawks
(21-2-3, 45 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)

Brandon Saad	Jonathan Toews	Marian Hossa
Jimmy Hayes	Dave Bolland	Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell	Andrew Shaw	Viktor Stalberg
Daniel Carcillo	Marcus Kruger	Michael Frolik

Duncan Keith	Brent Seabrook
Johnny Oduya	Niklas Hjalmarsson
Nick Leddy	Michal Rozsival

Corey Crawford

Ray Emery

Season Series

01/26/13 - Chicago 3 at Columbus 2
02/24/13 - Columbus 0 at Chicago 1
03/01/13 - Columbus 3 at Chicago 4 (OT)
03/14/13 - Chicago at Columbus

Head to Head

Chicago		Columbus
3.15 (6)	GPG	2.18 (28)
2.12 (2)	GAPG	2.67 (13)
18.1% (14)	PP%	13.0% (29)
84.4% (6)	PK%	86.0% (5)
Patrick Kane, 14	G leader	Vinny Prospal, 9
Patrick Kane, 16	A leader	Fedor Tyutin, 13
Patrick Kane, 30	Pts leader	Vinny Prospal, 15
Brandon Bollig, 40	PIM leader	Jared Boll, 74
10-1-2	Road/Home	7-4-4
3/10 vs Edmonton, L 6-5	Last Game	3/12 vs. Vancouver, L 2-1 (SO)
8-2-0	Last 10	5-2-3

Game Notes

• How Good Has Bob Been in March? - Well, the answer is: pretty damn good. In six appearances (five starts), Bob has a 5-0-1 record, is averaging 60:07 in ice time, has a 0.83 gaa (!!), and has a save percentage of .970. Let that sink in for a minute. Yes, that's only six games, but good God, when was the last time we saw a run like that? I don't remember Steve Mason even having a streak like that during his Calder season. Interestingly enough, this is his first start against the Blackhawks of the season. To his credit, Mason played well against them in the previous three games.
• PK Time - The Jackets' PK is now top-five in the NHL, thanks to their 28-of-29 streak. The Blackhawks' PP unit isn't up where you'd expect it to be, but it's always flush with skill, so they'll need to ratchet up the intensity. Vancouver scored a goal just a second or two after a PK ended the other night, so that's one caveat to add to the streak.

This is it. No more Chelsea Dagger. No more Blackhawks fans coming to our building to talk about how terrible we are, seemingly oblivious that, pre-Kane-and-Toews they were a sub-60-point tire fire back in 2004. No more Viktor Stalberg going on insane six-game season-long runs against us. Let's close out this divisional matchup the right way, boys! Keep that point streak going!