I have no clever music reference for a Blue Jackets game. It's Columbus. It's the Blue Jackets. I can't work miracles here.

Jackets have 3 points in 4 games with no regulation/overtime wins. They've scored six goals and allowed 14. They flipped Rick Nash for a handful of decent Rangers. They probably suck. Being reported that Crawford is starting tonight, so that means we're forestalling the inevitable with Emery or using Crawford on both sides of a back-to-back. Ruh roh. Sounds like Sergei Bobrovsky for them, who is good, but not great.

I'm predicting Brandon Saad busts out today. Everyone in the top six is getting points except him.

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It'd be nice if someone other than Hossa, Kane, Toews and Sharp did something. Seems pretty unsustainable to rely on those four guys all year long.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Agreed, but in a game like Thursday night's that required digging deep to get that win, of course those points came from the big four. And all three goals against Dallas were scored on the power play, which had been so inept for the past two seasons that we were yanking hair from our heads, so I'm not seeing an unsustainable overreliance on our top players but rather a long-overdue appearance of what ought to be this team's strong suit.

As for scoring beyond those four, we've had two goals from Bolland, two from Stalberg, and one from Frolik. We've had six assists from our third defensive pairing. Stalberg is a bumslayer; he'll get his points tonight.

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Who own the Jackets?

Stalberg.

He gets tonights GWG.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Now it sounds like Sieve Mason is in net for them. Oh boy. Stalberg's goin' to town. Stalberg had 22 goals last year and 8 were against Columbus, with two two-goal games and a hat trick. Hawks beat them six out of six and I believe every game was decided by more than one goal. That's Tyrus-grade bumslayin'.

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Sounds like we'll win 7-4 today.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Careful, that's when you get stuffed 2-0. Still, though:

5-2, 6-3, 4-1, 5-2, 6-1, 5-1 last year, and now they've turned their best player into Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky. I want to believe this is a seventh straight win, but hockey is weird sometimes. Or all the time.

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Curious Hair on most things Blackhawk = cautiously pessimistic.

Columbus is bad. Really bad. The Hawks went 6-0-0 vs them last year and none of the games were within less than 3 goals. I don't expect much to change tonight and I predict that Saad lights the lamp.

Wish Emery was playing tonight instead of Crawford though. Save Crawford for Detroit.

Doesn't Crawford suck?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Crawford is serviceable. Nothing more nothing less. I think he'll cough up maybe 2 or 3, but 4 is Emery type badness against CBJ.

Any chance the Hawks could get Patrick Marleau for tonight?

* dons tinfoil hat *

think it's a COINCIDENCE that the bears have ushered in the golden age of GMing with an emery, and now the hawks are destined to (literally and figuratively) skate to another cup thanks in large part to an emery?

synergy. this isn't the age of aquarius, this is the age of emery. they have a plan.

(sorry, i don't have any legitimate hockey thoughts. i sure hope that they put the puck in the net more than the other team, however, please don't overdo it with the damn goal song. i was @ the sox/cubs game where the hawks trotted out the whole team and the cup, and suffice to say that every 2-3 minutes you heard that damn song. that's enough for a lifetime.)

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Emery makes Crawford look like a Vezina caliber goalie.

I am with you 100% on that song. I'm done with it. Just go back to "Here Come The Hawks" on organ or something, anything, just no more Chelsea Dagger.

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And Harvey Wittenburg on the PA

Yeah, no more GENE! HONDA!!!, too Soxy.

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The Cubs fingerprints are all over the Hawks. If Gene Honda is the only Sox connection then the Hawks are doing it right.

Nick Leddy has been playing well.......Kane and Bolland tonight

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

This game is lukewarm crap in a paper bowl. Jesus.

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relax

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Sweet goal. Boring period.

Way to go out on a limb

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

I am relaxed. That's the problem. I'd like to be on the edge of my seat. The play is plodding and the building is a morgue.

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It's fucking Columbus man they have scored 8 goals all year

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Anybody been on a road trip down to that arena?

PP looking like last season's.

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Not a mult.

Nice to see Crawford make some huge saves and the Hawks go right back down the ice and take the lead.

FavreFan, your prayers for secondary scoring have been answered! I don't think scoring gets much more secondary than Hjalmarsson. Love him, but he's not a scoring defenseman.

Nice goal, though!

EDIT: changed to Bickell.

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Brookbank is so bad.