Chicago Blackhawks (3-1-2) at Columbus Blue Jackets (4-2-0)
6:00pm Central/7:00pm Eastern
Nationwide Arena
TV/Radio: WGN,FS-Ohio/WGN
PROJECTED GOALIES:
Chicago:
Corey Crawford (.900 SV%, 3.15 GAA)
Arizona:
Sergei Bobrovsky (.875 SV%, 4.04 GAA)
Team statistics:
Power Play
Chicago (10.0%, T-26)
Columbus (16.0%, 22)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (64.7%, 30)
Columbus (68.4%, 29)
Shots for/against per game
Chicago (36.3, 3 – 34.0, 24)
Columbus (33.0, 9 – 31.5, 14)
Shooting%
Chicago (10.6%, 14)
Columbus (1.1%, 13)
Faceoff%
Chicago (49.1%, 22)
Columbus (49.2%, 21)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago
6’1” 195lbs
Columbus
6’1” 197lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:
Chicago
DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun
Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane
Kunitz-Kampf-Saad
Hayden-Kruger-Martinson
Keith-Jokiharju
Gustafsson-Seabrook
Davidson-Rutta
Columbus
Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson
Foligno-Wennberg-Duclair
Jenner-Nash-Anderson
Milano-Sedlak-Bjorkstrand
Werenski-Savard
Murray-Nutivaara
Harrington-Kukan
Analysis:
Corey Crawford starts his second consecutive game after returning to the lineup this past Thursday. Crawford looks to build off his 27 save performance, in which, he looked in excellent game shape.
The Chicago defense will see an adjustment to its pairings tonight. Brandon Davidson, seeing his first action of the regular season, will be inserted into the lineup for Brandon Manning. The 27-year old Davidson was inked to a one-year deal after impressing Hawks’ management during training camp.
On offense, Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat, both riding six-game point streaks, have gelled well together as the top offensive threats early this season. Toews and DeBrincat have 10 points each, which leads the Hawks.
Alexandre Fortin will watch tonight from the press box. In turn, Andreas Martinson will be back on the fourth line. Fortin missed a golden opportunity last game in the first period to put the Hawks on the scoresheet but came away empty when his shot attempt missed the net. Joel Quenneville’s move to put Martinsen into the lineup comes with some scrutiny as Fortin played well versus Arizona.
Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky starts in goal for the Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky has been shaky in net early this season with an .875 save percentage. With that being said, the Russian netminder is capable of an excellent performance on any given night.
All eyes will be on Blue Jacket’s forward Artemi Panarin as he faces his former team. Panarin had 30 and 31 goal seasons for the Blackhawks before being traded to Columbus for Brandon Saad. Even after a full season since the trade, the move continues to be a hot topic amongst Chicago faithful.
Comment below in our live game thread tonight!
And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game early tomorrow from our very own Jeff Osborn on the-rink.com.