Friday picks: Will Blackhawks finally end skid?

Welcome to NHL Picks where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz make their predictions for all of the day’s games.

Chicago Blackhawks at Winnipeg Jets, 8 p.m. ET, NHL Network

Four straight losses have staggered the Chicago Blackhawks in the race for first place in the Central Division with 11 games to go. They have a game in hand on both the first-place Dallas Stars, who have a five-point advantage on the Blackhawks, and the St. Louis Blues, who are currently up three points on Chicago. That makes this game against the Winnipeg Jets Friday night more than a little meaningful.

The Blackhawks have beaten Winnipeg in two of three games this year with both of those victories coming on home ice. Now they’ll travel to the MTS Centre, which can be a tough place to play, but maybe not for every Blackhawk.

Andrew Ladd will be returning to Winnipeg for the first time since he was traded away to Chicago. The former Jets captain should be receiving a warm welcome back from the crowd after spending parts of five seasons following the franchise’s move from Atlanta. He was one of the relocated franchise’s early stars and fan favorites. Just check out the #AGoodLadd hashtag that Winnipeg fans used to express their fondest memories of the ex-captain after the trade. It should be a bittersweet night for him. Since the trade, Ladd has four points in eight games.

Over on the other side, Marko Dano will have a chance to give his ex-team a glimpse of what they’ll be missing. After coming over in the Brandon Saad trade last summer, Dano never got much of a shot with Chicago, but immediately jumped in and started contributing with the Jets. The former Columbus Blue Jackets first-round pick has five points over his last five games.

The Jets are resigned to playing spoiler now as they sit even on points with the Edmonton Oilers as the bottom teams in the Western Conference. It’s been quite a swing from a season ago when Winnipeg reached the playoffs. They’ll play Chicago one more time before the season is out.

Getting back to the Blackhawks, they enter this final stretch of the season with some uncertainty in net. No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford, who has had a season that puts him in contention for the Vezina Trophy, is not on the road trip and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Backup goalie Scott Darling will be between the pipes against the Jets, with journeyman goaltender Michael Leighton backing him up. Darling has a .912 save percentage and 6-6-2 record in 19 appearances this season.

One of the big concerns for Chicago of late is that they’ve struggled to slow down opposing teams’ attacks. They’ve allowed 15 goals over their last four games in regulation and the Jets certainly have the capability to turn up the heat offensively. For much of the year, Crawford had been covering for the drop in possession numbers and relative lack of depth on the blue line, but not as much lately and obviously not at all while he’s injured.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks’ own scoring attack just hasn’t been able to get firing like we’re used to seeing this year. Patrick Kane has just one assist over his last four games, slowing his dominant season and putting his ability to break 100 points in doubt. Head coach Joel Quenneville even jumbled up the lines to goose the offense, as he is prone to do, and it yielded only two goals against the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday.

Despite the recent trouble at both ends of the ice and playing without their No. 1 goalie, the stakes seem a little too high for the Blackhawks to lose a fifth straight. This is a team that tends not to flinch when a little adversity hits. While they don’t have to worry about missing the playoffs or anything like that, they are currently in the midst of their longest losing streak of the season at a relatively bad time for it. It’s only a matter of time before they get back on track.

Now with a game against one of the conference’s basement dwellers, Chicago has a good opportunity to end the skid and get back on track in the race among the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues for the top spot in the division. Pick: Blackhawks 4, Jets 2

The Blackhawks need a win against the Jets to get back on track. (USATSI)