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| CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS |
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18–24–7 (43 points; .439%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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8:30 P.M. – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH UNITED CENTER CHICAGO, IL |
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BALLY SPORTS OHIO ESPN+ (Out of Market) |
In December, it was an outbreak from the Columbus Blue Jackets that postponed their first meeting against Seth Jones as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
In January, it was Jones' positive COVID-19 test.
In February, the two will finally cross paths.
Jones is healthy and expected to be in the lineup Thursday night at the United Center when the Blackhawks take on the Blue Jackets for an 8:30 p.m. start time.
For Columbus, it's the final game of a five-game road trip that the young team has a chance to finish 4-1 on with a victory in the Windy City. Wins over Washington, Buffalo, and Montreal gave the Blue Jackets a perfect start to their longest trip of the season, but a 6-2 loss to the Calgary Flames in Alberta on Tuesday night brought any hopes of a perfect 5-0 trip to an end.
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | CHI |
|---|---|---|
| 3.11 | GOALS FOR | 2.39 |
| 3.66 | GOALS AGAINST | 3.31 |
| 17.1% | POWER PLAY | 20.0% |
| 80.5% | PENALTY KILL | 74.7% |
| 29.6 | SHOTS FOR | 28.5 |
| 35.2 | SHOTS AGAINST | 32.1 |
| 47.9% | CF% (EVEN) | 46.4% |
| 49.0% | FACEOFF WINS | 49.0% |
| PACES & PROJECTIONS | ||
| 40.6% | MONEYPUCK'S ODDS TO WIN | 59.4% |
| 44.0% | THE 538'S ODDS TO WIN | 56.0% |
| 82.0 | 82-GAME POINT PACE | 72.0 |
RE: CHICAGO
For Chicago, it's the chance to start off a season-high six game homestand with a win. The Blackhawks have won two of their last three but are just 3-6-2 in their 11 overall and have been plagued by inconsistencies on both sides of the puck.
It's been the Kane & Debrincat show when Chicago has the puck this season. Alex Debrincat's 28 goals is twice as many as the next-highest goal scorer (Brandon Hagel, 14) and Patrick Kane's 46 points makes him one of just three players (Debrincat has 40 and Jones 30) with 30 or more points on the season. Still, the Chicago offense is last in the league at 1.93 expected goals per game, in part because they have just 58 high-danger shots this season, 31st in the league and just one ahead of the Arizona Coyotes. Kane and Debrincat can create chances for themselves, but that appears to be the end of the list for playmaking forwards on the Blackhawks.
STORYLINES
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AN IMPROVING PK
In the last month, the Blue Jackets penalty kill is doing their job at a 87.8% rate, killing off 29 of 33 penalties in the time period. The defense has given up an average of 37 shots per game during that same 11-game period, so it's a good thing that the PK unit is having success — a few of these games may have otherwise gotten ugly. Chicago's power play has been warming up as of late, converting on six of 19 chances (31.5%). Limiting penalties is always the ideal game plan, but stopping them is a key to victory: The Blue Jackets are 6-12 in games they allow at least one power play goal, and 17-11-1 when they don't.
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LAINE'S STREAK
Laine has at least one point in seven straight games, his longest point streak since the 2017-18 season when he tallied a point in 15 straight games for the Winnipeg Jets. A point Thursday in Chicago to make it eight straight will tie the second longest point streak of his career, which he accomplished twice — his rookie season of 2016-17, and one earlier in the 2017-18 season before his 15-game run.
PROJECTED LINES*
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Patrik Laine | 38 | Boone Jenner | 14 | Gus Nyquist |
| 93 | Jakub Voracek | 34 | Cole Sillinger | 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| 59 | Yegor Chinakhov | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 16 | Max Domi |
| 64 | Trey Fix-Wolansky | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 23 | Brendan Gaunce |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| 44 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 27 | Adam Boqvist |
| 5 | Gavin Bayreuther | 46 | Dean Kukan |
| Starting Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | Joonas Korpisalo | 90 | Elvis Merzlikins |
*SUBJECT TO CHANGE
