The Blackhawks are back at it tonight as they wrap up their 5-game homestand as they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets for another round of the toilet bowl as both teams are battling it out to see who will have the best odds to draft Macklin Celebrini this June.

Columbua comes into this one on a two-game losing streak, with back-to-back losses against the Rangers and Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. They have a 4-6 record over their last 10 games, and the frustartions continue for not only this team but their fan bases as well. On paper, this team should be doing much better than they have over the last few seasons. While they don’t have blow-you-out of the water superstars on the roster, they do have a good mix of solid veterans and a great young core. For whatever reason, they just cannot get the production that is needed from their key players. Johnny Gaudreau was the biggest signing in team history, and in just over a season and a half, he has only managed to put up 87 points, which is still well shy of the 115 points he put up in 80 games in his final season with the Flames. Former 2nd overall pick Patrik Laine has struggled to live up to the hype that he created when he was drafted back in 2016, but earlier this season he entered the player assistance program, so he has been away from the team. Whatever issues he has been dealing with off the ice hopefully will become easier, and we will get to see the player on ice, which has been very exciting when he is on. Besides that, their young guns have been out with injuries; Adam Fantilli has been out since January 31st with a calf laceration, and Kent Johnson suffered an upper body injury and is currently listed out indefinitely as of the 29th. Much like the Hawks, this Columbus team is just trying to make it to the finish line and hoping that the lottery balls fall in their favor this April.

The last time these teams met was the night before Thanksgiving, and it was a game to forget for the Hawks on and off the ice. Despite the Hawks out shooting them, the Jackets pounded the team 7-3 in what was Petr Mrazeks worst performance of the season, letting up five goals on 18 shots and being pulled early in the third period. The team could not get anything going on the ice, and off the ice was the start of the end for Corey Perry. As the off-ice issues surfaced, the very next day it would be announced that Taylor Hall's season had come to an end and Andreas Athanasiou would be out for an extended period of time. The expectations for this year's team were low, but the game against Columbus was almost the straw that broke the camels back, taking this season from bad to worse.

After Thursday's embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Avalance, you'd like to think that things can get worse for the Hawks playing against another bad team. Over their last 15 games against the Jackets, they are 10-5 and 7-4 in the last 12 meetings at the UC. Now, depending on how you look at things, this is either good or bad news. Heading into March, the Hawks are set to play 14 games, and only 5 of those are against teams currently in playoff spots or within a play-off spot (Colorado, Washington, 2x Los Angeles, Philadelphia), so more than one win is possible this month, but if you are hoping for the best odds for the draft lottery, it's going to be a long month.

That’s going to be it from me puck drop is set for 7pm Central time. As always, Lets Go Hawks!
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