Blues at Blackhawks
The St. Louis Blues are hanging around in the race for a playoff spot, but could be without their leading goal scorer when they visit the rival Chicago Blackhawks for a key contest Sunday night. Right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (27 goals) left Saturday’s 4-3 overtime victory over the New York Rangers in the first period with an upper-body injury and will be re-evaluated before Sunday’s contest.
Brayden Schenn snapped a 10-game goal drought with the winner in overtime for the Blues, who are three points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference after a 4-2-1 stretch that followed seven straight losses (0-6-1). St. Louis plays three of its final 11 games against the Blackhawks, who are closing in on mathematical elimination from the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08. Chicago has dropped seven of its last 10 games after coughing up a one-goal lead in the third period en route to a 5-3 setback at Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. Captain Jonathan Toews scored once and set up another in the loss and has put up 11 of his 51 points in the last eight games while reaching the 20-goal plateau for the 11th time in 11 NHL seasons.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE BLUES (38-28-5): Schenn’s goal tied him with Tarasenko for the club lead with 58 points and Jaden Schwartz added an assist to reach 50 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had the biggest day Saturday with two goals and an assist and boasts seven of his 46 points in the last four games along with a plus-4 rating. Jake Allen has made five straight appearances (3-2-0, 11 goals allowed) in net and could get back-to-back starts with backup Carter Hutton still dealing with a neck injury.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (30-34-8): Toews is second on the team in scoring behind Patrick Kane, who has a goal and five assists in the last four games to push his season total to 69 points. Rookie Alex DeBrincat (22 goals, 42 points) has cooled off of late with one point in the last six games while fellow forward Tomas Jurco has registered all four of his goals in the last 10 contests, including one Saturday. Jean-Francois Berube was in net Saturday, which should give Anton Forsberg (9-15-3, .905 save percentage) the call against the Blues.
OVERTIME
1.The Blues won the only previous meeting this season 5-2 in October, and the teams play a home-and-home April 4 and 6.
2. St. Louis RW Nikita Soshnikov scored his first goal Saturday in his 11th game since coming over from Toronto in a trade.
3. Chicago D Jordan Oesterle has five goals this season after coming up empty in 25 games before 2017-18.