After eliminating everyone’s favorite to take the Stanley Cup last spring, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in a punishing four-game sweep, then giving eventual conference champions Boston a bit of a scuffle, the Blue Jackets were supposed to regress, and regress mightily without the two Russian superstars.

But, then a funny thing happened.

In spite of those losses—and a spate of injuries to remaining key players—the Blue Jackets sit today at 81 points with 70 games played and in the second wild card spot, and on their current pace over a full 82 games would finish with about 94 points. Now, there are three teams vying for that second wild card spot (including Columbus), but for the sake of argument, let’s say they stay in that spot.

By comparison, last season, Columbus also finished in the second wild card spot, but with 98 points. Hmmm. So, theoretically at least, the subtraction of $21 million per year worth of Russian talent has cost the Blue Jackets four points. Additionally, that is with fairly lengthy injuries to Seth Jones (who has played 56 out of 70 games), Josh Anderson (26 out of 70), Ryan Murray (27 out of 70) and Cam Atkinson (44 out of 70).

Wait a minute, how does this happen?

Well, there are likely a number of factors, including the possibility that the Eastern Conference is just not as good this year, or that other Blue Jackets players over performed relative to their average seasonal output. Or, they have just been crazy lucky this year. The first is plausible, the second is unlikely. The third may be because you make your own luck.

By specific and meaningful metrics, even without Panarin and Bobrovsky, the Blue Jackets have done some things well this season. For one, shots versus shots against, where Columbus is sixth in the league at +2.6 per game. Second is the team’s 1,060 blocked shots, good for fifth in the league. Their penalty kill stands at 81.7%, placing 12th in the league. And, perhaps even more important, the squad has totaled just 458 penalty minutes, the second fewest in the league.

Those are all things that help keep the puck out of your net, which is important when you have gone from the likes of Bobrovsky in net to Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins.

At this point, you might think we are going to drop some sneaky good offensive numbers for Columbus, but not really. In fact, the Blue Jackets were not an overly productive offensive team this year.

But then let’s go back to the goalies.

Korpisalo started out the season as the heir apparent, and was somewhat up and down, but good enough you keep the Blue Jackets in the postseason picture or close. Then, Korpisalo got hurt in a late-December game against Chicago, thrusting Latvian rookie Merzlikins into the starting role. And that was at that point that even diehard Blue Jackets fans thought the team had finally hit its high-water mark for the season.

But, again, that is not how it worked out.

It remains to be seen how good Merzlikins is and will be over his NHL career, but his numbers for the year (in a relatively limited sample size) are compelling: 13–9–8, .923 save percentage, 2.35 goals against average and five shutouts in 31 games started. For that matter, Korpisalo’s overall numbers are not terrible, either, at 19–12–5, a .911 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average.

And one thing is certain: when Korpisalo went down, the Blue Jackets circled the wagons around Merzlikins, in whose first start after the Korpisalo injury, the team blocked 24 shots to the opponent’s 10 (a 4–1 Columbus victory over Florida). Two nights later, on the road in Boston no less, the Blue Jackets blocked 15 shots to the Bruins’ two for another win.

That’s the how, but the real story is the why—which it can be argued is due to the leadership of the team: Jones, David Savard, Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno, Pierre Luc Dubois, Anderson and Zach Werenski—all big, physical players who are tough to play against and seemingly will do anything to win, and who are in tight lockstep with head coach John Tortorella.

And credit also has to go to General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who has either gone out and acquired or retained those players.

The same physical willingness that has helped carry the Blue Jackets this year, in spite of significant challenges, is the one that helped them dominate Tampa Bay last April. That is a quality that did not decrease with the losses of Panarin and Bobrovsky, and it suggests that the Blue Jackets’ system of player acquisition and on-ice play is one that can overcome temporary adversity—serving the organization well, if not this year, then in seasons to come.

We will be back with more on the Columbus Blue Jackets—with or without actual hockey. Thanks for reading; sign in, comment below and please follow @TheRinkColumbus. Stay healthy, everybody!

The post Season or no season: Columbus Blue Jackets have much to be happy about appeared first on The Rink.

In the first period, the Hawks looked like a team that knew they were going to be sellers come Monday’s trade deadline. Within 90 seconds, the Hawks were already down 1–0 due to an apparent allergy to playing defense. Adam Boqvist was easily beat by Filip Chytil up the side boards and Chytil put the puck through the five hole of Chicago goalie Robin Lehner. It was very apparent that the Hawks’ biggest weakness in the first period—much like this season—was puck control and they could not seem to accomplish it on either side of the ice.

The Blackhawks only had a few good shots late in the first and it was because of a slashing penalty on Rangers wing Brett Howden. Alex DeBrincat had a shot that hit the side post for what would have been the game-tying goal. The Blackhawks got most of their 12 first-period shots on goal on that power play alone while the Rangers spread their 12 over the length of the period. As always, Lehner needed some help. New York led 1–0 after 20 minutes.

DeBrincat strikes the post on the #Blackhawks power play and the period comes to an end. Chicago trails 1-0 after twenty minutes of play.#CHIvsNYR pic.twitter.com/l1BykbDbaL

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2020

In the second period, the Blackhawks did something they have not done in a while: looked like a team that wanted to play playoff hockey. They came out with speed and looked more eager to resuscitate a season that at many times has looked dead on arrival. That glimmer of hope would come in the form of captain Jonathan Toews and rookie phenom Dominik Kubalik. As New York was putting a lot of pressure on Lehner with back-to-back chances, the puck slid between the legs of the Chicago netminder for what looked to be a 2–1 Rangers lead. But alas, enter Toews. He got to the net just in time to poke the puck away from crossing the goal line. The home team looked hungry in the second and they would get fed shortly after.

Jonathan Toews appreciation tweet #OCaptain pic.twitter.com/NCTmtHzgLs

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2020

The Hawks pulled out an old classic with a new twist as Patrick Kane slid the puck across the ice to Duncan Keith who then slung it to Kubalik who just beat the skate and pad of goalie Igor Shesterkin to tie things up at 1–1. This goal was Kubalik’s rookie leading 24th goal and Keith’s 500th career assist. A very nice look at both past and present coming together for this team in transition. Not only did the Blackhawks look more agile and determined, but they also were not afraid to get physical.

Yahtzee!#CHIvsNYR pic.twitter.com/Vyqps4cm9Z

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2020

On the other end of the ice, Lehner earned a roughing penalty for shoving Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux after Lemieux pushed David Kampf following the whistle. However, that would be all of the action for the rest of the frame. The Blackhawks outshot the Rangers 16–10 in the second period and seemed poised to chip away at the Western Conference wild card standings tied 1–1 heading into the third period.

Robin Lehner isn’t in the mood for shenanigans. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/KqOKibZGSD

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 20, 2020

What goes up, unfortunately, must come down, at least for the Rangers. The third period saw seven goals scored, but the Blackhawks were not the benefactor of most of them. Almost three minutes in, Pavel Buchnevich buried a solid pass from Chris Kreider in front of the net to put New York ahead 2–1 and the Rangers would not trail ever again. New York scored again, 90 seconds later, in the form of a power play goal from the elder Strome brother, Ryan. Olli Maatta was hit with a holding penalty and the older Strome scored his 15th on the season to put the Rangers up 3–1. Kubalik picked up his 25th goal of the season, and second of the night, two minutes later to pulling the Hawks within one again at 3–2, but the Rangers just refused to let up.

Make it 2⃣for Dominik Kubalik!

Is the Calder in the @NHLBlackhawks rookie’s future? #NYRvsCHI

: NBCSN
: https://t.co/xFg9MuaGSV pic.twitter.com/V4tZGrTirV

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) February 20, 2020

Kreider scored his 24th on the season for a 4–2 Rangers lead and Artemi Panarin got an unassisted goal for his 30th on the season to push the gap to 5–2 to get his revenge on his former team. The younger Strome, Dylan, could not handle a pass from Maatta and it ended up in the Panarin’s bread basket.

Drake Caggiula tried to keep the dwindling home crowd invested when he buried a crisp pass from Toews off the boards for his seventh on the season to make the score 5–3 New York, but it was too little, too late. Two minutes later, Mika Zibanejad just barely squeaked a nice pass from Buchnevich to the left side of Lehner for the Rangers’ sixth goal of the game and fifth of the period. Chicago lost this one 6–3 late and the “For Sale” sign was firmly nailed up at the United Center. This one was over well before the final horn sounded, but it did not make the loss any less devastating. The Blackhawks needed a miracle on the 40th anniversary of “Miracle on Ice,” but it was not to be.

Here lies the obituary for the 2019-20 #Blackhawks.

They are survived by star Patrick Kane.

There were many fallen soldiers including Andrew Shaw, Brent Seabrook, and Calvin de Haan.

There will be a lottery player in Chicago next season. Hopefully the draft will be kind.

— Blackhawk Up (@Blackhawk_Up) February 20, 2020

The Blackhawks return to action on Friday night against the Nashville Predators in Chicago. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST.

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks overwhelmed late in 6–3 loss to the New York Rangers appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John “Double J” Jaeckel wrap up an uneventful Blackhawks trade deadline.

photoshop creation by @Wm_J_Lepetomane on Twitter

• The Blackhawks drop 2 to division rivals.
• Are we happy with Stan Bowman standing pat?
• WHY DID UNT DA HOCKS TRAYD FER DAT STONE AN DA BRED GUY?
• Corey Crawford is back but, once again, temper expectations
• Are we now the Statler and Waldorf of the Official Stan Bowman fan club?
• Our homage to the Daily Herald’s John Dietz.
• We wrap up by answering some listener and reader questions

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 45 – Trade Deadline Wrap appeared first on The Rink.

7:30pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Collin Delia (6–3–3, SV%: .916, GAA: 3.22)
Ottawa – Craig Anderson (14–17–3, SV%: .904, GAA: 3.55)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (21.2%, 12th)
Ottawa (21.7%, T10th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.4%, 31st)
Ottawa (77.4%, 26th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.7, 16th; 35.3, 30th)
Ottawa (30.1, 22nd; 36.3, 31st)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.2%, 9th)
Ottawa (10.2%, 8th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.8%, 17th)
Ottawa (50.1%, T15th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Ottawa 6’2” 200lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura

Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson

Ottawa Senators

Ryan Dzingel–Matt Duchene–Bobby Ryan

Brady Tkachuk–Colin White–Mark Stone

Zack Smith–Jean-Gabriel Pageau–Magnus Paajarvi

Darren Archibald–Chris Tierney–Rudolfs Balcers

Thomas Chabot–Dylan DeMelo

Maxime Lajoie–Cody Ceci

Ben Harpur–Christian Jaros

Analysis

In their third-straight Eastern Conference game, the Blackhawks fell to Artemi Panarin and the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. Despite the loss, Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 17 games, scoring 35 points over that time span. Kane is currently on pace for 123 points if he plays all 82 games this season.

The loss did not do the Blackhawks any favors in the playoff race. They are three points back of the second wild card spot, with four teams to leapfrog. At the same time, they are only five points from the basement of the Western Conference. It will be interesting to see what the Blackhawks do between now and the deadline. Ideally, they sell a few pieces for assets or stand-pat. Overpaying for assets right now could prove more destructive to this team long-term than helpful.

The Ottawa Senators are the worst team in hockey. Only a few years removed from being a final-four team, the franchise has imploded with ownership issues, roster issues and a lack of willingness to spend. Ottawa currently sits in last place in the entire league, but also does not have their first-round pick, which is owned by the Colorado Avalanche due to the Matt Duchene trade. Ottawa could in theory win the draft lottery, and never see Jack Hughes in a Senators jersey. That has to hurt.

Speaking of Matt Duchene, it was reported yesterday that Duchene will likely be traded before the deadline. Mark Stone, who is also a pending UFA, could possibly be traded before the deadline as well. The reports are that Stone’s fate will be determined in the next week or so.  

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Senators appeared first on The Rink.

7:30pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Cam Ward (12–8–4, SV%: .898, GAA: 3.60)
Columbus – Sergei Bobrovsky (23–17–1, SV%: .903, GAA: 2.90)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (20.8%, 14th)
Columbus (16.1%, 25th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.4%, 31st)
Columbus (84.5%, 2nd)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.5, 18th; 35.4, 30th)
Columbus (31.8, 15th; 29.9, 8th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.3%, 8th)
Columbus (10.1%, 10th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.6%, T17th)
Columbus (49.6%, T17th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Columbus 6’1” 198lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–Marcus Kruger–Dylan Sikura

Brendan Perlini–Artem Anisimov–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson

Columbus Blue Jackets

Artemi Panarin–Pierre-Luc Dubois–Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno–Boone Jenner–Josh Anderson

Anthony Duclair–Alexander Wennberg–Oliver Bjorkstrand

Lukas Sedlak–Riley Nash–Markus Hannikainen

Ryan Murray–Seth Jones

Zach Werenski–David Savard

Scott Harrington–Markus Nutivaara

Analysis

The Blackhawks returned to their winning ways on Thursday night as they scored five unanswered goals to beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2. The Blackhawks look to make it two-straight wins as they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the United Center for a rare Saturday night home game.

Patrick Kane has continued his sensational play this season with a goal and two assists on Thursday night. Look for Patrick Kane to continue his 16-game point streak tonight against their talented Eastern Conference opponent.

The story swirling around the Blue Jackets coming to town is the return of former fan-favorite Artemi Panarin to Chicago. With free agency looming, many Blackhawks fans are hoping that “the Bread Man” will return to the team where he started his NHL career just a few short years ago.

The Blue Jackets are a strong team. Their defense is arguably one of the best in the league, and they have talent up and down their entire lineup. This will certainly present a tough task for the playoff-hopeful Blackhawks. The Blue Jackets may be all out for a Stanley Cup this season, especially with Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky destined to hit the free agent market this offseason.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Blue Jackets appeared first on The Rink.

They talked about the recent powerplay explosion, line combinations, thoughts on Stan Bowman, Artemi Panarin talk, defensive prospects and expectations, Corey Crawford and the goaltending, and can they make the playoffs?

On today’s Stebbins Sports 60: @tim_stebbins rants about Sunday’s NFC and AFC Championships and Tuesday’s Baseball Hall of Fame announcements. @Mario_Tirabassi joins the show at 1:30 to talk NHL. Tune in live on https://t.co/rnMBA7KlOB at 1 pm!

— Radio DePaul Sports (@rdpsports) January 23, 2019

The post Rink On The Air: Mario Talks Blackhawks With Radio DePaul Sports appeared first on The Rink.

When NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the salary cap could allow as much as $3.5 million of room for teams to patrol the free agent market this coming summer, Blackhawks fans (with a little help from recent mainstream articles) all jumped on their internet devices and filled their Christmas shopping carts with Artemi Panarin sweaters.

Not realistic but, then again, when have sports fans ever been realistic or rational?

As we sit today, according to Puckpedia.com, the Blackhawks stand to have an estimated $20.8 million in cap space if the cap were to rise as speculated. Granted, this is with only 15 of the currently rostered players signed. Marcus Kruger, Chris Kunitz, Andreas Martinsen, Jan Rutta, Brandon Davidson and Cam Ward potentially all fall off the roster as unrestricted free agents while David Kampf, Brendan Perlini, and Gustav Forsling will be restricted free agents.

Other restricted free agents that will need to be addressed are Dylan Sikura, Blake Hillman, Victor Ejdsell, Anthony Louis, Jacob Nilsson, Matheson Iacopelli, Luke Johnson, Carl Dahlstrom, Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia. A couple of these names might affect the NHL roster, but most should not be of concern. AHL vets Jordan Schroeder, Andrew Campbell, and Tyler Sikura will become unrestricted free agents but, again, probably don’t figure into the pro roster.

What could an additional $3.5 million do for this franchise that is slowly drowning in a murky swamp of indecision and denial? It certainly should mean that they will make a big splash in the market, but it has been a long time since they went out and made a significant addition through free agency.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, despite what the pundits have been feeding you, the free agent market is not as plentiful as you might think. If free agency were to start today, it would look like a sea of big names, but that is not how NHL free agency works. Most big name free agents in the prime of their career re-sign with their team or get traded and sign extensions with their new team almost immediately.

The biggest names to potentially hit the market are Columbus Russians Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin, Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, Senators forwards Mark Stone and Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle, Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner down to players like Wayne Simmonds and Jacob Silfverberg. I agree that all of these names sound enticing but I would be surprised if half of them hit the true open market.

For this exercise, let’s assume that David Kampf, Brendan Perlini, and Gustav Forsling all re-sign and eat up around $4 million between them. Simple math brings you to about $16 million in cap space, their general manager cannot unload a contract or two.  This is where I need to spit some truth. While spending $10 million a season for the next seven seasons on Artemi Panarin is logistically possible, it is not reasonable nor is it smart.

If Panarin is (reportedly) playing hardball with the Columbus Blue Jackets because he is not sure that is the city where he wants to spend the next eight years, he is certainly not interested in taking a “discount” to return to a team that is a shell of the one he left two years ago.

“But, Jeff, He has such great chemistry with Patrick Kane”

Sure, he did have that chemistry. He has chemistry with players in Columbus, too. He will have chemistry in his next city, as well. That is what dynamic star players do. Since his chemistry with Kane, he was blindsided by a surprise trade to a much smaller market, where he then blossomed into a bonafide NHL star and has (reportedly) decided that (despite playing for a team much closer to the Stanley Cup than the Blackhawks), he is not interested in hitching his camper to Columbus.

Did I miss anything?

It is pretty safe to assume that taking less money and coming back to a terrible Chicago organization to play second fiddle to Patrick Kane (who could potentially be here for almost the entirety of Panarin’s next contract deal) is not exactly ideal. He clearly wants to be a top 10 NHL star on his own. Say, for argument’s sake, that he was to take less money and gamble his future on this mess of a franchise.

Artemi Panarin does not take this team from basement dwellers to Stanley Cup potential. No one player does. Several layers need to be stripped off the onion to begin to build the team back up. Next season may, in fact, be just as bad as this one is going.

“But, hey! We got da bread man back guys!”

What does that John Tavares recruiting video look like? Do the Blackhawks add Panarin in on the stage, announcing the first overall pick at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft? Attending the draft lottery as the Blackhawks representative while Bill Daly announces, “The first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft goes to…the Los Angeles Kings?”

Back to the most important question, though. Who is helping to keep the puck out of the net? Top four defensemen cost premium dollars. If the fantasy rings true, Stan Bowman spends (at least) $9 million on Panarin and then has to spend almost all of his remaining cap money on ONE defenseman. Probably an overpaid, serviceable, top four defenseman, because no one is getting Erik Karlsson or Jacob Trouba (whom you’d have to acquire through trade, or give an insanely high offer-sheet plus draft compensation) for $6 million a year.

If the Blackhawks are going to blow money on players, blow it on the filling the gaping holes in the lineup. Replace a few of the 5-6-7 level defensemen with some actual adults that can hold their own on both ends of the ice.

“We have Boqvist, Beaudin and Ian Mitchell. They are the future!”

Thank you, Whitney Houston, but those are all very young, very raw, smallish, offensive minded defensemen. Not a single team in this league is winning the Stanley Cup with four of their top six defensemen having one year or less of NHL experience, much less all of them being the same type of player to varying degrees. This is not a video game. The Blackhawks will be extremely lucky if just one of those three potential rookies can hold his own in the NHL next season.

This brings us all the way back to the remaining “clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right” now currently playing musical chairs in front of Corey Crawford. Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Erik (no “D” in) Gustafsson, Gustav Forsling, Brandon Manning, Henri Jokiharju, Connor Murphy. Someone in this Mickey Mouse club has to go.

In fact, two or three need to go. This is what happens when you stockpile a bunch of very similar assets.

Obviously, Henri Jokiharju was drafted and hyped by the front office to remain in Chicago. Connor Murphy might “seem” bad but he is a young, versatile, cost controlled, relatively physical defenseman that will not get you killed in your own end. Dennis Gilbert might be able to develop into that type of player, eventually, but he is still trying to navigate the AHL.

Unless Stan Bowman can find a functional idiot of a GM, he is not going to be able to move Seabrook or Manning without sweetening a deal with a Dylan Sikura type player. Opinions of Sikura aside, the Blackhawks have a history of giving decent NHL players away for almost nothing, which is another annual event that needs to stop happening.

This leaves Keith, Gustafsson and Forsling. Try and find a dance partner for Keith at the deadline and get anything you can for the other two. These are the type of hard decisions that need to be made. If Stan Bowman is not the type of GM that can make this kind of shift in the organization happen, then he can hop on the plane with them to outer Mongolia, manana.

The post Analysis: How Does The Potential Salary Cap Jump Affect The Blackhawks? appeared first on The Rink.

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. 

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Blue Jackets appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John Jaeckel get together in this short and sweet episode to discuss the scraps of Blackhawks news.

• What is a Puckpedia?
• John McDonough, Stan Bowman and the Blackhawks circus are still peddling the snake oil
• The Blackhawks convention ends, mercifully
• The we talk a little about the big hammer, John Scott, and his brand new podcast “Dropping The Gloves with John Scott”
• What is all this Artemi Panarin nonsense?
• RIP, Stan Mikita
• What upcoming guests might be joining us soon?
• We wrap up the episode with some great listener/reader questions.

thanks to @Wm_J_Lepetomane on Twitter for this fine creation

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 28 (Farewell to Stosh) appeared first on The Rink.