Another opponent coming in on a back-to-back after winning last night in Chicago in a shootout. Interestingly enough, the ‘Hawks have had 3 of their last 4 games go to the skills competition, and have also won 3 straight.
5:00pm EST, Fox Sports Ohio, High Definitino
Winning 4 of the last 6 the Jackets come in on a bit of a hot streak, but looked somewhat lost on Friday night after giving up 3 straight goals to the road-weary Canucks and losing 4-3. The Canucks are a very good team with a great defense… same with the Blackhawks.
The biggest overall differences between the two opponents comes in team speed and skill. The last time the Jackets met the Blackhawks it was a thriller of a Saturday afternoon game where the Jackets relinquished a lead in the 3rd period, losing 6-5.
It is expected that Mathieu Garon will get his first start under IHC Claude Noel today. Hopefully he can continue to perform the way he has all season long when called upon to take a start instead of Steve Mason. If memory serves correctly, he has been very good after not playing a few games, but has struggled when playing multiple games in a row himself.
After today we all face a 15-day Olympic Break without any Blue Jacket hockey. Luckily this isn’t like the summer Olympics where there is no hockey to speak of, but Nationwide Arena will not play host to the Jackets for some time.
Mark your calendars because Team USA takes the ice for the first time on Tuesday at 3:00pm against Switzerland.
GO JACKETS!!!
GO USA!!!
