Game Preview: Bedard, Foligno Host Blue Jackets As Columbus Battles Chicago Saturday Night In The Windy City

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

15-40-5 (35 pts; .292%) 8th, Central Division ROSTER SCHEDULE

8:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, MARCH 2 UNITED CENTER CHICAGO, IL

TELEVISION: Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ Power Play (Out of Market)

101 days after the two teams met at Nationwide Arena, the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets meet again for the second and final time this season — this time in the Windy City.

The first game, a 7-3 Blue Jackets victory on the eve of Thanksgiving, started a brief two-game winning streak for Columbus. That doesn't sound noteworthy on the surface, but even mere back-to-back wins have eluded the Blue Jackets since that point. 

Even the Blackhawks, whose .292 point percentage is worst in the league, have won consecutive games since then. To be fair, that was in early December and is the only time Chicago has won consecutive games this season. The Blue Jackets have won back-to-back games twice. Neither team has won three in a row in over a full calendar year. Oof.

Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets and Blackhawks rekindle an old division rivalry and try to make it one win in a row:

TALKING POINTS: CHI

• Despite missing several weeks with a fractured jaw, rookie phenom Connor Bedard is still the Blackhawks' points leader, with 40. He's tied with Jason Dickinson for the team lead in goals (17) and with Philipp Kurashev in assists (23). Behind Bedard and Dickinson to round out the top three for Chicago's goal-scorers is former Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno, with 14.
   
• Foligno is not the only former Blue Jackets captain who will be in the United Center on Saturday. The Blackhawks are coached by Luke Richardson, who captained Columbus for 110 of his 190 games as a Blue Jacket between 2002 and 2006. Richardson is 41-89-12 in nearly two full seasons as Chicago's bench boss.
   
• Saturday's game will conclude a five-game homestand for the Blackhawks, who are 0-2-2 through the first four.

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• Yegor Chinakhov was benched in Thursday's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes for "turnovers", according to head coach Pascal Vincent. In related news, Chinakhov's 1.40 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 play leads the team. Of players with 500+ minutes skated this season, that ranks 11th in the league and is just behind Artemi Panarin's 1.41. 
   
• After going 0-for-12 over a four-game stretch on the power play, the Blue Jackets man-advantage units have scored in three of the last four games. That includes a goal from newcomer Alex Nylander, acquired last week in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nylander had an assist earlier in the game, which gave him his first multi-point game in nearly four calendar years. Can he redevelop the game that made him the 8th overall pick in 2016?
   
• Here's the projected lineup for Saturday's game, with lineups subject to change: