After dropping their worst loss of the season to Philadelphia last Saturday, the Columbus Blue Jackets have had four days to re-group. Most teams would take a day to rest, but with a 2-11-1 record, Columbus was not afforded that luxury.
In the past days, coach Scott Arniel has gone back to the basics.
"We started on one end of the rink and worked our way backwards," said Arniel, "Is it going to be perfect tonight? Probably not. But I'd really like to see us play the right way for sixty minutes against a team thats very talented, that is going to throw everything they have at us"
That team is the Chicago Blackhawks. The 'Hawks sit atop the Central Division with a one-point lead over Nashville, though they have suffered a bit of a slide as of late. They come into tonight's game looking to squash a three-game losing streak.
Center Patrick Kane has been hot for Chicago lately with seven points in his last five games. Kane's fellow line mate Marian Hossa has also found success in recent games tallying six points in five contests.
The Blackhawks welcomed the return of Duncan Keith last game against the Blues. Keith's presence on the blue line should boost his team's struggling power play that has converted on 5 of 57 chances.
Columbus will also welcome new faces tonight as Jared Boll makes his return to the bench and recently acquired Mark Letestu will throw on the union blue for the first time.
Letestu, traded from the Penguins for a fourth-round draft pick in the 2012 Entry Draft, has been skating with the team since Wednesday. In his first days of practice, Letestu has worked alongside Derek Brassard and Vinny Prospal and has seen time on the Jackets' second power play unit.
"I've played on teams in this situation and I'm here to be part of the solution, not the problem. Come in with a good attitude and hopefully we can string together some wins and get this team out of the basement," said Letestu.
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