Blackhawks at Blue Jackets preview

BLACKHAWKS (27-27-8) at BLUE JACKETS (30-26-5)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-O, NBSCH, NHL.TV

Chicago seeks its third straight win and fourth in five games, including a 3-1 victory vs. the San Jose Sharks on Friday, after losing eight straight (0-7-1). The Blackhawks are 10 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Saad had 106 points (55 goals, 51 assists) in 160 games in two seasons with the Blue Jackets. He has 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists) in 61 games this season.
The Blue Jackets, with 65 points, are tied with the New York Islanders for the second wild card in the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, although Columbus has one game in hand. The Blue Jackets have lost four of its past five games (1-3-1) and is 5-10-2 record in the past 17.

Players to watch

Blackhawks defenseman Jan Rutta returned after missing eight games (undisclosed) to have a goal and an assist vs. the Sharks. He leads the Chicago defensemen with six goals.
Panarin has three points (two goals, assist) in a three-game point streak. He leads the Blue Jackets with 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists).

They said it

"We're checking better. The forwards are coming back harder, making it harder on their rush, not giving them easy entry." -- Blackhawks forward Nick Schmaltz
"We've done a good job of locking down defensively but we've got to let both parts of our game flourish and that's something we're looking to do tonight." -- Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert

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Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Tommy Wingels
Tomas Jurco -- Artem Anisimov -- Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat -- Nick Schmaltz -- Anthony Duclair
Vinnie Hinostroza -- David Kampf -- Ryan Hartman
Duncan Keith -- Jordan Oesterle
Connor Murphy -- Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson -- Jan Rutta
Anton Forsberg
J-F Berube
Scratched: Lance Bouma, Carl Dahlstrom, Patrick Sharp
Injured: Corey Crawford (upper body), Michal Rozsival (upper body)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner -- Alex Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Matt Calvert -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Lukas Sedlak
Nathan Gerbe -- Jussi Jokinen -- Josh Anderson
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Ryan Murray -- Jack Johnson
Scott Harrington -- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Zac Dalpe, Taylor Chorney, Markus Hannikainen
Injured reserve: Nick Foligno (lower body), Dean Kukan (upper body), Markus Nutivaara (upper body)

Status report

The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate. … Forsberg, who was part of the Panarin-Saad trade, could start after Berube played Friday. .. Jokinen replaces Dalpe (healthy scratch).

Stat pack

The Blackhawks are 16-2-2 vs. the Blue Jackets in the past 20 games. … The Blue Jackets are 2-4-2 in their past eight home games.