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Columbus Blue Jackets (34-35-4) at Chicago Blackhawks (44-23-6) 8:30PM Eastern/7:30 Central CSN Chicago/Fox Sports Ohio
THE BUZZ
Yet again, the Blackhawks get to try to find their groove against an opponent they should have no difficulty with. Sergei Bobrovsky is back between the pipes for the Blue Jackets and he stole a win versus the Hawks earlier this year at Nationwide Arena—and he is generally a tougher puzzle to solve than Steve Mason, the goalie who nearly shut the Hawks out Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Joel Quenneville continues to struggle to find the right line combinations in the absence of superstar winger Patrick Kane, while the players themselves try to maintain the proper gaps and initiate breakouts cleanly and efficiently with a newer cast of characters acquired at the trade deadline. The Blue Jackets, under Coach Todd Richards, will forecheck aggressively. The Hawks need to be on their toes.
THE LINEUPS (PROJECTED)
Columbus
Jenner Johansen Atkinson Foligno Anisimov Morin Hartnell Karlsson Dano Tropp Letestu Boll
Johnson Savard Prout Tyutin Connauton Goloubef
Bobrovsky
Chicago
Versteeg Toews Hossa Saad Richards Sharp Bickell Vermette Teravainen Desjardins Kruger Shaw
Timonen Seabrook Keith Rozsival Oduya Hjalmarsson
Crawford
All for now, I'll recap tomorrow.
JJ