Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter VI Mobile College Basketball March Mayhem Picks College Basketball March Mayhem Picks VegasInsider.com VegasInsider.com
Handicapper Bios Sports Picks Free Odds Contests Sportsbook
Sports Betting Home NFL NBANHLMLBNCAA FBNCAA BKGolfAutoHorsesBoxingVI More Sports
 
NHL Scores Matchups Teams Standings Schedules Injuries News
 
 · Latest News
 · Player Updates
 · Transactions
Buy Picks Vegas Odds
 
 · Vegas Odds
 · Offshore Odds
 · Future Odds
 
Preview: Blue Jackets (0-0) at Blackhawks (0-0)
BT Movements  ·  Line Movements
Date: March 01, 2013 8:30 PM EDT
  

After extending their historic streak with a tough road win, the Chicago Blackhawks will try not to look past the league's worst team.

That hasn't been a problem recently for the Blackhawks, who seek their 10th straight victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

The Blackhawks (17-0-3) remained undefeated in regulation and stretched their NHL record season-opening points streak to 20 with a 3-0 win at St. Louis on Thursday. The Blackhawks have earned at least one point in 26 consecutive games overall, the third-longest point streak in league history.

Advertisement

"It's kind of cool to be mentioned in history,' goalie Ray Emery said. "But we've just got to continue to play well.'

They appear poised to keep their run going against the struggling Blue Jackets (5-12-3) with nine consecutive wins in the series by a 35-18 margin. Those victories, however, haven't come as easy lately with both wins this season by one goal.

Chicago, though, is a league-best 10-0-3 in one-goal games, thanks in large part to stellar goaltending from Emery and Corey Crawford.

Emery figures to start this game after Crawford had to be removed following the first period on Thursday with an upper-body injury. Crawford, the league leader with a 1.46 goals-against average, was making his second start since returning from an upper-body injury on Sunday.

Coach Joel Quenneville said Crawford is day to day, and it wasn't the same injury that previously sidelined the goalie.

Emery finished with 15 saves to preserve the shutout against the Blues. He's also won each of his eight starts, and has a 1.76 GAA in five home games.

As good as they've been playing defensively, the Blackhawks shouldn't have much trouble containing a Columbus team that has scored only 15 goals and converted 3 of 37 power-play chances in 10 road games.

The Blue Jackets rallied from four one-goal deficits and salvaged a point with a 5-4 overtime loss to Dallas on Tuesday. It was the third straight loss and sixth in seven games for Columbus, which has a league-low 13 points.

"The problem is we're just playing from behind too much," said R.J. Umberger, who scored against the Stars. "It's hard to play catch-up.'

Columbus may be getting some help with Artem Anisimov expected to return after missing three games because of a head injury. Anisimov, who has four goals and two assists in 15 games, provided one of the goals in a 3-2 home loss to Chicago on Jan. 26. He's scored in each of his last two against the Blackhawks.

Patrick Kane finished with two assists in that win and ranks among the league leaders with 10 goals and 14 assists on the season. He also has 12 and 22, respectively, in 32 career games against the Blue Jackets.

Jonathan Toews will try to build off his first two-goal effort of the season against the Blues. He has 13 goals and 20 assists in 32 games in this series, while Marian Hossa has three goals and five assists in his last seven against Columbus.

Patrick Sharp also enjoys this matchup, scoring 14 goals in 21 career meetings at home.

Steve Mason is 0-6-0 with a 4.14 GAA in his last six starts in this series despite limiting the Blackhawks to four goals on 51 shots in two this season.

Sergei Bobrovsky had allowed two goals or fewer in four of five starts before giving up five to Dallas. He won his only career start against Chicago on Jan. 23, 2011, with Philadelphia.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2013
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

 CURRENT LAS VEGAS LINE
 Team  ML   PUC   O/U 
 COB  +230      5.5 
 CHI  -270      
LAS VEGAS LINE MOVEMENTS

 CURRENT SPORTSBOOK LINE
 Team  ML   PUC   O/U 
 COB  +245      5.5 
 CHI  -290      
OFFSHORE LINE MOVEMENTS

 BETTING TRENDS
 Team  ML   PUC   O/U 
 COB  47%   22%   27% 
 CHI  53%   78%   73% 
BT MOVEMENTS

 NHL HEAD TO HEAD
 Feb 24, 2013  Score  ATS Results 
  COB 0 Under: 1 
  CHI « 1 Cover: 121 
 Tools:   Boxscores  •  Recaps
 Jan 26, 2013  Score  ATS Results 
  CHI « 3 Cover: 211 
  COB 2 Under: 5 
 Tools:   Boxscores  •  Recaps
 Mar 20, 2012  Score  ATS Results 
  CHI « 5 Cover: 189 
  COB 1 Over: 6 
 Tools:   Boxscores  •  Recaps

 NHL PREVIEWS
 Friday, Mar 1
 
  •  Oilers at Blues
8:05 PM EDT
  •  Blue Jackets at Blackhawks
8:35 PM EDT
  •  Wild at Ducks
10:05 PM EDT
 
 
 
  
GOLD Membership
Over 150 Member Plays free each month. Signup Today!
 
 

NFL
NFL Sports Picks
NFL Vegas Odds
NFL Online Odds
NFL Matchups
NFL Scores

More Sports
Golf
Auto Racing
Horse Racing
Boxing
WNBA

MLB
MLB Sports Picks
MLB Vegas Odds
MLB Online Odds
MLB Matchups
MLB Scores

Features
Free Odds
Contests
Newsletters
VI Radio
Las Vegas Travel
Follow us on Twitter
Add us on Google+
Join us on Facebook

NBA
NBA Sports Picks
NBA Vegas Odds
NBA Online Odds
NBA Matchups
NBA Scores

Sports Betting Tools
Live Odds
Mobile Odds
Parlay Calculator
Gaming Terms
TV Listings
Handicapping Records
Sports Betting
About Sports Betting
Sportsbook Reviews

NHL
NHL Sports Picks
NHL Vegas Odds
NHL Online Odds
NHL Matchups
NHL Scores

VegasInsider Info
About Us
Help Center
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Refund Policy
Contact Us
User Feedback

College Football
NCAA FB Sports Picks
NCAA FB Vegas Odds
NCAA FB Online Odds
NCAA FB Matchups
NCAA FB Scores

Sportsbooks
CarbonSports · Review
SportBet · Review
Sportsbook · Review
TopBet.eu · Review

College Basketball
NCAA BK Sports Picks
NCAA BK Vegas Odds
NCAA BK Online Odds
NCAA BK Matchups
NCAA BK Scores

Rotation Schedules
Baseball: Mar 31 - June 02

Copyright © 1997-2013, VegasInsider.com Inc., The Global Leader In Sports Gaming Information. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-211-4759.