With the 4 Nations Face-Off break complete, the Columbus Blue Jackets resume their quest for their first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since 2020.
As the Blue Jackets play host to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, they sit one point back of the Detroit Red Wings and two behind the Ottawa Senators — the clubs holding the two Eastern Conference wild-card positions.
Reaching that spot while navigating Johnny Gaudreau’s tragic death on the eve of the season as well as a slew of injuries is no small feat, but the Blue Jackets are well aware how every team’s level of play will elevate after the break.
“We’ve been trying to get to the playoffs since I’ve been here,” forward Justin Danforth told the Columbus Dispatch. “It hasn’t been a lack of effort. It’s just that things haven’t played out the way we wanted them to play out yet. This is fun. It’s just different, but it’s something I’ve missed. We’ll be excited for the stretch run.”
The Blue Jackets are winless in their last four games (0-3-1), but they’re regaining some prime firepower for the stretch run. Captain Boone Jenner, who had shoulder surgery in October, could make his season debut Saturday. The Blue Jackets announced Friday that he has been activated off injured reserve. The same goes for Kirill Marchenko, who paces Columbus with 21 goals.
Forward Yegor Chinakhov and defenseman Dante Fabbro also are near to returning, while defenseman Erik Gudbranson and center Sean Monahan are likely to be in action in mid-March.
“They’re pretty tight. So, we expect them to come back ready to make a push at the end of this break,” coach Dean Evason said.
The Blackhawks, who sit 31st in the league, ahead of only the San Jose Sharks, return to the ice having only one victory in five games. They capped their pre-break action with a 6-5 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 8.
The Blackhawks held a lead with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time but failed to hold it, the latest such lesson for the young squad.
The Blackhawks may be a bottom-feeder team, but they have managed a 3-3-5 mark in their last 11 games. That’s the sign of a club that competes but does not have the horses to win.
“If you look at the way we’ve been playing of late, it’s been a pretty exciting brand of hockey, honestly,” captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s disappointing we didn’t get that win in St. Louis, but we’ve had some really strong games where we played hard, we played excitable and emotional hockey. And I think that’s what we need. We need to have that to bring consistency in every game.”
Chicago, which is likely destined to claim a top-three draft pick for the third consecutive year, will spend the remaining two months of the season trying to build a culture that brings better days in the rebuild.
With that goal in mind, interim coach Anders Sorensen continues to hammer home the positives and push for improvement.
“We’ll try to cut down on our D-zone time a little bit,” he said. “And then overall individually for guys to keep taking strides here, if it’s young guys or even some of the older guys to keep progressing here.”
–Field Level Media
