|
Both clubs are outside of the top four playoff
spots in the Central Division, but Chicago sits fifth, just two
points behind fourth-place Nashville. The seventh-place Blue
Jackets are five points behind the Blackhawks.
Looking past this season, Columbus has already dealt coveted
defenseman David Savard and center Riley Nash in exchange for
draft picks. The Blue Jackets continued that trend Sunday
evening by trading captain Nick Foligno to the Toronto Maple
Leafs for a pair of draft picks, including Toronto's 2021
first-rounder.
Chicago, meanwhile, recently sent Lucas Carlsson and Lucas
Wallmark to Florida in exchange for three players and might also
move the likes of forward Mattias Janmark.
On the ice, the Blackhawks overcame an early 2-0 hole to win 4-3
at Columbus on Saturday night, and Monday they aim to win
successive games for the first time since March 23 and 25. Alex
DeBrincat had a goal with an assist Monday, and rookie Kevin
Lankinen regrouped after giving two goals in the first 3:13 of
the contest to make 23 saves.
"I like the way we responded after going down, but lots to work
on. No question," said Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton, whose
club has won five straight at Columbus dating to the 2018-19
season.
DeBrincat has scored five of his 21 goals, and posted seven
points, over his last seven games. He has three goals with five
assists in five games against Columbus this season. Teammate
Patrick Kane, meanwhile, has posted four goals with 10 assists
while Chicago has won five of seven from the Blue Jackets in
2021.
Lankinen has won two of his last three starts and is 4-2-0
against Columbus despite posting a 3.14 goals-against average.
Backup Malcolm Subban recorded his lone shutout of the season
with a 26-save effort during a 2-0 win at Columbus on Feb. 25.
The Blue Jackets' Cam Atkinson scored his 14th goal on Saturday
as his team fell to 2-8-1 over the last 11 games. Atkinson has
four goals with six assists in the seven games against Chicago
this year.
With three points in three games, Atkinson continues to step up
while fellow key contributors Zach Werenski and Boone Jenner are
out with injuries, and others are either scratched or already
traded. Yet, he realizes it's also partially his responsibility
to make sure leads don't get away from the club, as occurred
Saturday.
"The one thing that we can control is our work ethic," Atkinson
said. "I think we got away from that (after the early part of
Saturday's game) and it showed. The onus is on us to be
leaders."
Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves in losing his fourth straight
start. He's yielded seven goals in losing both of his starts
against Chicago this season. Teammate Joonas Korpisalo is 2-1-2
against the Blackhawks with a 2.95 GAA.
--Field Level Media
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
