NEWSLETTER
Tonight is the third meeting this season between the Chicago Blackhawks and rival St. Louis Blues, with the Blues having won the first meeting on October 30 (1-0) and the Blackhawks getting the win in the second meeting on November 26 (3-2 OT). St. Louis comes into tonight’s game having lost their last two games, including a 7-4 loss in their last outing on Thursday night where they allowed five third-period goals in a 7-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Chicago is coming off a win over the Edmonton Oilers from Wednesday night, but that was just their second win in their last nine games (2-5-2) since January 17. The Blues are currently fourth in the Central Division based on point-percentage (.633) and hold onto the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH, ESPN+ (out-of-market)
Radio: WGN 720 AM, TUDN 1200 AM (Spanish)
Expected Lineups
Blackhawks (17-23-7)
Kubalík – Strome – Kane
DeBrincat – Dach – Hagel
Kurashev – Slavin – Lafferty
Borgström – Carpenter – Entwistle
de Haan – S. Jones
McCabe – Murphy
C. Jones – Galvas
Fleury
Blues (26-14-5)
Schenn – O’Reilly – Kyrou
Buchnevich – Thomas – Tarasenko
Saad – Barbashev – Perron
Kostin – Joshua – Sundqvist
Mikkola – Parayko
Krug – Faulk
Walman – Bortuzzo
Husso
Injury Report
Blackhawks:
Tyler Johnson (Three Months – Neck Surgery)
Kevin Lankinen (Day-to-Day – Hand)
Jonathan Toews (Day-to-Day – Concussion Protocol)
Riley Stillman (IR – Upper Body)
Reese Johnson (IR – Broken Clavicle)
Jujhar Khaira (IR – Back Spasms)
Blues:
Scott Peruunovich (Day-to-Day – Upper Body)
Marco Scandella (Week-to-Week – Lower Body)
What To Watch For
• Dylan Strome has had the hot-hand for the Blackhawks in recent weeks. He has ten points over his last eight games since January 21, with three multi-point efforts in his last five games played. He also ranks sixth in the NHL in faceoff win-percentage (59.0%) amongst 55 players to take at least 180 faceoffs since January 1.
• Blues net-minder Ville Husso has been hot for St. Louis since the calendar turned-over to 2022. Since January 1, Husso has made eight appearances with seven starts for the Blues. He is 6-1-0 with a .956 save-percentage and a 1.37 GAA. Husso ranks at the top of the list of 35 goalies to make at least eight appearances since January 1 in both save-percentage and GAA.
• Special teams will be a focus tonight for the Blackhawks on both ends of the spectrum as they will have to deal with a Blues team that ranks in the top-five of the league both on the powerplay and penalty-kill. St. Louis holds the NHL’s third-best powerplay unit this season with a 27.6% success-rate, while they rank fourth in the league on the penalty-kill with a 84.6% kill-rate. Chicago has found recent success on their powerplay, ranking ninth in the NHL since January 15 with a 26.9% success-rate.
Get Caught Up
Asked about Dylan Strome's recent surge upping his trade value, Derek King joked he "should sit him down a little bit, make him stick around here."
"But I would never do that… If he's here again, great. If not, we'll wish him luck."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 11, 2022
Patrick Kane: "With Strome, it's pretty obvious, if you give him a chance in a top-six role and on the power play, he's gonna produce. It's just the fact. … I feel like keeping a guy that's that young is probably a better solution. He can be part of the future here."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 12, 2022
Patrick Kane hopes the new GM, whoever it is, will give veteran players such as him a voice in the process, saying players have a unique perspective on what's working and what's not.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 12, 2022
Marc-André Fleury and Calvin de Haan Land on TSN’s First “Trade Bait” Listhttps://t.co/e8C7ccBYy4 pic.twitter.com/8BLch0B31Y
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 11, 2022
