Chicago Blackhawks at Columbus Blue Jackets Preview

The Blue Jackets will stay at home this weekend, and the Chicago Blue Jackets will be coming to Columbus on Saturday night. Both the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets are battling for a playoff spot in the Central Division, and this game will be extremely important.

Chicago has picked up 41 points this season, which has them in fifth place in the Central. The Blackhawks have gone just 2-5 in their last seven games, but they have also been dealing with a very difficult schedule.

Columbus is still trying to get into a playoff position, but this team will have its work cut out for them in the final few weeks of the season. The Blue Jackets have gone just 1-4 in the last five games, and it has been a rough stretch over the last month or so.

The Blue Jackets are slight favorites in this matchup at -110 over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Blackhawks Back to Struggling

Not much was expected from the Blackhawks this season, but they got off to a great start to begin the year. Chicago has been in a playoff position for much of the year, but things have started to unravel for them in a hurry.

Patrick Kane leads the Blackhawks on the offensive end of the ice, and he remains one of the best overall players in all of hockey. Kane leads the team with 37 assists and 51 total points, while Alex DeBrincat has scored a team-high 20 goals.

Chicago is now giving up 3.1 goals per game after being solid on that end of the ice to begin the season. The Blackhawks have several holes on this roster, and those holes have been exposed in the last few weeks.

Why Can’t Columbus Score?

It’s been the same old story for the Columbus Blue Jackets. This team just continues to lose games because they can’t find ways to put the pucks in the back of the net.

Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the team with 14 goals and 32 points, but he just hasn’t gotten a ton of help. Columbus has scored on just 14 percent of their power play attempts, and that is another area that needs to improve.

The Blue Jackets want to try and slow this game down, but at some point, they are going to have to look to score some goals. Columbus has shown some signs of life lately, but they just can’t find consistency.

Good Chance For Columbus

The Blue Jackets have not been favored in many games this season as the Central Division has been extremely tough to navigate through. Hosting the Blackhawks is a bit of a relief, even though Chicago has played well against Columbus so far this season.

Chicago is the much better offensive team in this game, but the Blackhawks have been giving up goals like crazy. The Blue Jackets have really been struggling to score, but this is a team that they should be able to score goals on.

This should be a tight game throughout, but this will give the Blue Jackets a great chance to pick up a pair of points and start to turn things around.