Jackets-Blackhawks at a glance

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The setup

Say this about the Blue Jackets: They will compete hard, kill penalties and likely play stifling defense. But can they score? Their "marquee" players badly need a breakout game. ?

Norrena gets the start.

He has played pretty well but is still looking for his first win. ? Say hello again to Kevyn Adams, an original Blue Jackets player now playing on the Blackhawks' fourth line. ? It'll be interesting to see what both clubs do with their fourth lines. The Jackets could dress Jody Shelley, the Blackhawks David Koci.
Blue Jackets at a glance

? Record: 3-3-1 (11th in Western Conference)

? Power play (NHL rank): 17.1% (18th)

? Penalty kill (NHL rank): 92.1 % (first)

? Players to watch: David Vyborny is a consistent 60-point producer, but his track record shows that when the Blue Jackets have struggled, he hasn't exactly put the club on his back. Rick Nash is scoring goals, but he could use some help.

? Injury update: LW Fredrik Modin (groin) is out.
Blackhawks at a glance

? Record: 5-3-0 (fourth in Western Conference)

? Power play (NHL rank): 20.9 % (10th)

? Penalty kill (NHL rank): 77.1 (24th)

? Player to watch: Patrick Kane doesn't turn 19 until next month, but so far he looks pretty comfortable in the NHL. Kane is tied for sixth in the league with eight assists, and his nine points lead all rookies. He has one goal and four assists in the past two games.

? Injury update: RW Martin Havlat (shoulder) is out.

 

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Blue Jackets: Chicago rookies playing at a high level


-- The Blue Jackets can't complain about the play of their two rookies, defenseman Kris Russell and right winger Jared Boll.

But the hockey world can't say enough about the Chicago Blackhawks' two rookies, center Jonathan Toews, 19 years old, and right winger Patrick Kane, 18.

Maybe it should be called the "Rookie Rumble" when the Blue Jackets play the Blackhawks tonight in the United Center.

It's the first Central Division game of the season for the Blue Jackets.

"Both of these clubs have players who, I would say, are well worth the price of admission," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Kane, the No. 1 pick in June when the NHL draft was held in Columbus, leads all NHL rookies with nine points.

Toews is on a point-per-game pace (six), including a jaw-dropping goal to help beat Colorado on Friday.

"It's one of the best goals I've ever seen," Blackhawks coach Denis Savard told the Chicago Sun-Times.

If the two rookies were playing for the Jackets, Kane would be tied for first in scoring and Toews would be tied for third.

Hitchcock has watched them play a handful of games.

"Toews is going to be an impact player on both ends of the ice," he said. "He plays well beyond his years, and (Savard) rewards him by playing him in situations when the game is on the line."

Hitchcock shook his head with the mention of Kane's name. At 5 feet 8, 165 pounds (maybe), Kane is already a scary playmaker.

"Kane makes things happen in small spaces," Hitchcock said. "The closer he gets to the net, the more quality a chance somebody else is going to get.

"That's just how he plays, setting up other guys all over the (offensive) zone."

Toews and Kane are playing on a line with Jarkko Ruutu, another youngster, on the left wing.

It's the team's No. 2 line, technically, but the minutes logged lately suggest otherwise.

"I trust them," Savard told the Chicago Tribune. "I have full confidence. They're young, but they are elite players and their will is huge."

The Blue Jackets have leaned hard on their two rookies, but they're played lower in the lineup.

Boll is on the third line with Jason Chimera and Manny Malhotra. Russell is on the third defensive pair with Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, but he's drawing a lot of power-play time, too.

"I don't want to be pleased," Boll said. "I don't want to find a comfort level.

"I want to keep getting better. So far, I've drawn some penalties and gotten the other teams' attention, but I've got to keep getting better."

Russell had similar thoughts. The NHL is played at such a high speed that time to make decisions is measured in tenths of a second, not seconds like in junior hockey.

"You learn an NHL lesson every night," Russell said. "Those first few games, your focus is just getting it out of your own end and not making a mistake.

"They want me to make good reads, to jump up and join the play and be a threat."

 

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Khabibulin returns in goal for the Blackhawks after resting Saturday night. . Rene Bourque returns at wing for the Hawks after missing the last three games with a strained groin.