Follow JJ on Twitter @jaeckel!


In the NHL, a road point is generally a good thing, although the Blackhawks have to feel the sting today of not getting two in Columbus last night.

They thoroughly outplayed the Blue Jackets, with a shot margin of 41-19. Many were quality chances and near misses. But the Jackets got a couple of goals the way offensively challenged teams like the Jackets need to: getting bodies in front of the goalie, hustling, getting a bounce here and there.

That, and an outstanding performance by Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, made a game of it.

When you go to OT, much less the gimmick known as the shootout, anything can happen—and did. The Blue Jackets came away with the 3-2 win. Corey Crawford was outstanding, by the way, in the shootout. Just not quite good enough.

Brandon Saad hitting a post, and Marian Hossa, Brad Richards and Jonathan Toews failing to lift pucks high enough didn’t help either.

The Hawks return home tonight to face the Maple Leafs. Some quick notes on tonight’s matchup:

GAME TIME: 7PM Eastern/6 Central

TV: NHL Network

POWER PLAY: Toronto, 9th, 20.7%
Chicago, 18th, 17.5%

PENALTY KILL: Toronto, 9th, 83.9%
Chicago, 1st, 91.4%


PROJECTED LINEUPS:

TORONTO

Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
James van Riemsdyk - Nazem Kadri - Mike Santorelli
Daniel Winnik - Peter Holland - David Clarkson
David Booth - Trevor Smith - Richard Panik

Dion Phaneuf - Cody Franson
Stephane Robidas - Roman Polak
Morgan Reilly - Korbinian Holzer

James Reimer


CHICAGO

Brandon Saad - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa
Kris Versteeg - Brad Richards - Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell - Andrew Shaw - Patrick Sharp
Daniel Carcillo - Marcus Kruger - Ben Smith

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Johnny Oduya - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Tim Erixon - Michal Rozsival

Antti Raanta


I’ll recap tomorrow.

JJ

Join the Discussion: » 108 Comments » Post New Comment

» Thanks and Farewell

» Where do we go from here?

» Preds at Hawks Breakdown

» "All Teams Have Flaws"

» The Games You Should Win