Preview: Jets at Blackhawks

[January 16, 2015]  The Winnipeg Jets are responsible for two of the five regulation home losses suffered by the Chicago Blackhawks this season. The Jets look to continue to fluster the Blackhawks when the Central Division rivals meet at United Center on Friday. Winnipeg, which skated to a 2-1 victory over Dallas on Thursday to improve to 3-0-1 in its last four, posted a 1-0 triumph at Chicago on Nov. 2 before Mathieu Perreault tallied twice in a 5-1 victory on Dec. 23.

Marian Hossa scored the Blackhawks' lone goal in the most recent meeting with the Jets and also collected a tally and an assist as the team opened a four-game homestand with a 4-1 triumph versus Minnesota on Sunday. Chicago, which improved to 12-5-0 against division rivals, is in the midst of playing nine of 11 contests versus its adversaries from the Central. "I think we try to pride ourselves on these games because we know maybe later in the year, it's going to be more important," Patrick Kane told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We treat these games like four-point games, where you’re hopefully stealing two from them and taking two for yourself."

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), CSN Chicago

ABOUT THE JETS (23-14-8): Michael Hutchinson will get the nod on Friday versus Chicago, against which he recorded his lone career shutout by making 33 saves in the first meeting before stopping 38-of-39 shots last month. Michael Frolik scored the lone goal in the first contest against the Blackhawks and also tallied versus the Stars to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists). Perreault notched an assist on Frolik's tally to increase his point streak to five contests (six goals, three assists).

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (28-13-2): Bryan Bickell recorded a goal and an assist against the Wild on Sunday to increase his respective totals to five and two over his last seven games. The 28-year-old hasn't been as fortunate versus Winnipeg, against which he has just one assist in seven career meetings. Kane notched two assists for the second time in three games and has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 11 career meetings with the Jets.

OVERTIME

1. Chicago G Corey Crawford yielded three goals on 13 shots on Dec. 23 to fall to 3-3-0 lifetime versus Winnipeg.

2. The Jets killed off their last 10 short-handed situations after yielding seven power-play goals in their previous three games.

3. The Blackhawks are just 1-for-9 on the power play in their last four contests.

PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Jets 2

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