PREVIEW: Blue Jackets head to Chicago to take on Blackhawks

Thursday night was an unenviable task for the Blue Jackets. Coming off a close, hard-fought road setback at the New York Rangers, the Blue Jackets had to head home for the second of a back-to-back.

That’s tough enough in and of itself, but the challenge on Thursday included taking on one of the hardest teams to play against in the NHL in the Carolina Hurricanes. In the words of head coach Pascal Vincent, the Hurricanes play a “five-man press,” essentially bringing the old, suffocating “40 Minutes of Hell” basketball press to the ice.

There’s never a breath of air against a swarming Carolina team whose strategy is challenging every moment. And while the Blue Jackets weren’t overwhelmed by the Canes, Carolina used its aggressive nature to do enough to take a 4-2 win in Nationwide Arena.

“It’s unique in the sense it never really ends,” Gudbranson said of the Carolina forecheck. “They’re constantly reloading above the puck, and they’ve been built like that for years. They’re just workhorses, every single one of them on the other side. You’re constantly under pressure. If you think you have someone beat, you gotta get on your horse and get going because you don’t have them beat clean at any point.

“They just play a very direct game. I think they’re the best in the league at playing that simple, direct game that we all talk about.”

Now, having said that, the challenge becomes very different tonight as the Blue Jackets take on Chicago. While Carolina and New York, the opponents in the last three games, are battling for playoff positioning and are at the top of the league, the Blackhawks enter last in the NHL in points percentage.

It’s a team that can’t be taken lightly – and is much better at home in the United Center than on the road – but the Blue Jackets will face a very different style of play in the Windy City.

Know The Foe: Chicago Blackhawks

Head coach: Luke Richardson (Second season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.03 (32nd) | Scoring defense: 3.53 (28th) | PP: 13.2 percent (31st) | PK: 77.3 percent (24th)

The narrative: Everyone knows it’s a rebuild in Chicago, and the crown jewel is in place with the selection of Connor Bedard as the No. 1 overall pick in last summer’s draft. Bedard has been as good as advertised so far, and the Blackhawks are on the way to another high pick in the draft to give him a partner in crime. Bedard has been joined in Chicago this year by fellow top prospects Kevin Korchinski and Lukas Reichel, and such names as Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar are on the way – while this year has been a struggle, it feels like a matter of if, not when, the United Center is jumping on a nightly basis again.

Team leaders: Despite the fact Bedard missed just over a month with a broken jaw suffered in early January, this is his show – he leads the team with 17 goals and 40 points, with his goal total tied for first in the league among rookies. Jason Dickinson also has 17 tallies, while Philipp Kurashev is second on the team in scoring with a 9-23-32 line. Nick Foligno is fourth on the squad with 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) and Tyler Johnson adds 12 tallies.

The Blackhawks are going with a veteran and a youngster goalie tandem on the season in 31-year-old Petr Mrazek (13-23-4, 3.04 GAA, .908) and 24-year-old Arvid Soderblum (2-17-1, 3.97, .875).

What's new: Bedard recently returned from injury, but it’s been a tough year on that front as Andreas Athanasiou, Taylor Hall, Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev are all on injured reserve. Those veterans were expected to help lead the way, and their absence has depleted an already thin lineup, one reason the Blackhawks have lost five straight and are just 4-18-4 in their last 26 games.

Trending: Columbus began the season series with a 7-3 win the day before Thanksgiving in Nationwide Arena. The teams have split the series two straight years.

Former CBJ: Foligno is joined by Seth Jones, the longtime CBJ alternate captain who has a 1-17-18 line in 45 games this season.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Yegor Chinakhov – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier – Cole Sillinger – Alex Nylander
Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Adam Boqvist
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratches: Adam Fantilli (calf laceration, out eight weeks as of Jan. 31), Kent Johnson (upper body injury, out indefinitely as of Feb. 29), Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve: None

Roster Report: Boqvist returns to the lineup in place of Peeke while Merzlikins will get the start against the Blackhawks

3 Stats to Know

• Blue Jackets goalies Daniil Tarasov and Elvis Merzlikins have combined to post a .922 save percentage in the last five games, stopping 154 of 167 shots against.
• With a goal and an assist for his first CBJ points in his third game with the team Thursday, Alex Nylander posted his first multipoint game in the NHL since March 11, 2020.
• Milestone watch: Sean Kuraly is set to play in the 200th game of his CBJ career (34-31-65, 199 GP). ... Cole Sillinger is three games from 200 for his NHL career (29-35-64, 197 GP). ... Zach Werenski is four assists from 200 for his NHL career (83-196-279, 462 GP).

Who’s Hot

Cole Sillinger has scored in two straight games. ... Johnny Gaudreau has four multipoint games in the last nine contests (1-9-10). He now has 27 points in the last 29 games (4-23-27), 17 points in the last 17 (1-16-17) and 13 in the last 12 (1-12-13). ... Dmitri Voronkov has nine goals in the last 16 games and is among NHL rookie leaders in goals (15, third) and points (30, fourth). ... Boone Jenner has five goals and four assists in nine games since returning from the NHL All-Star Game and leads the Blue Jackets with 18 goals. ... Jack Roslovic has eight points (2-6-8) in the last eight games. ... The team’s rookie stat line of 29-37-66 is first in the NHL in goals and third in points.

This Day in CBJ History

March 2, 2002: Ron Tugnutt notches his sixth and final shutout with the Jackets, making 30 saves in a 2-0 win at Los Angeles.

March 2, 2015: The Blue Jackets acquire William Karlsson, Rene Bourque and a 2015 second-round pick from Anaheim in exchange for James Wisniewski and a 2015 third-round pick.

March 2, 2017: The Blue Jackets’ march to the postseason continues as Sergei Bobrovksy stops 38 shots in a 1-0 blanking of Minnesota.

March 2, 2023: The Blue Jackets acquire goaltenders Michael Hutchinson (Vegas) and Jon Gillies (Arizona) in a pair of deals that send Jonathan Quick to the Golden Knights as well as Jakub Voracek and a sixth-round pick to the Coyotes.