• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Leclaire, Blue Jackets look to stay hot vs. Blackhawks

Nov 7, 2007 - 2:20 PM Columbus (8-3-2) at Chicago (7-7-0) 8:30 pm EST

CHICAGO (Ticker) - Pascal Leclaire is finally living up to his potential.

Leclaire aims for his fifth straight win as they Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

The eighth overall pick of the 2001 draft, Leclaire leads the league with a 1.12 goals-against average. He also leads the league with five shutouts.

Thanks to the play of Leclaire, the Blue Jackets are unbeaten in their last six games (5-0-1), as well as 3-0-1 on the road.

Leclaire stopped 21 shots and Manny Malhotra scored as Columbus posted a 3-0 win over St. Louis on Sunday.

Leclaire will face stern test against two of the best rookies in the league. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have combined for 10 goals and 28 points for Chicago, which is coming off a 5-2 home loss to Nashville on Sunday.

Kane, who was named the Rookie of the Month for October, leads the team with 17 points and had an assist in Sunday's loss. Meanwhile, Toews also tallied an assist and has a point in 11 of the last 12 games.

Columbus, which has won four of the last six meetings, posted a 7-4 victory on October 23. Star forward Rick Nash scored twice in that game and has a team-leading 10 tallies.