Blackhawks, Jackets looking to stay alive

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif.

After posting two of the top four records in the NHL in the regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets both need to find out a way to get a win on the road or their playoff runs will end almost as soon as they began.

The Blackhawks were shut out twice at home by Nashville and then blew a 2-0 lead in Game 3 to fall behind 3-0 in the series. Game 4 is Thursday night.

“We’re in a tough spot and a place we don’t want to be in, but we got a game,” defenseman Brent Seabrook said. “We got to worry about one game and try to win one game.”

The Blue Jackets have gotten one win so far after dropping the first three games to Pittsburgh. The Penguins don’t want to give them any life.

“You have the opportunity to close it out, you want to make sure you do it,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “You could see the desperation in their game and saw the importance of that to be in our game as well.”

The other two series Thursday night are much tighter with Edmonton-San Jose and Montreal-New York Rangers tied at two games apiece.

The Sharks evened their series with a 7-0 win at home but the Oilers are focused on the series score rather than the lopsided game.

“It’s 2-2. To me, that’s the only score that matters,” forward Mark Letestu said. “We didn’t play the way we wanted to — 7-0, nothing really went our way.”

Some things to watch:

The defending Stanley Cup champions are hoping a better start will help them finish off Columbus.

The Blue Jackets have outscored the Penguins 5-2 in the first period over the course of the series, including building two-goal leads in both Game 3 and Game 4. Pittsburgh managed to rally and win Game 3 in overtime but couldn’t quite get there in a 5-4 loss in Game 4 as Columbus extended its season.

Taking that final step has been a difficult process during the Crosby era in Pittsburgh. While the Penguins have won a pair of Cups during the two-time MVP’s tenure, they are just 15-13 in games in which they can eliminate the opponent. Not playing catch-up in the second period would help.