Blues at Blackhawks
The St. Louis Blues have taken it on the chin with four straight losses to find themselves against the ropes in a bid to secure the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues aim to regain their composure on Friday when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in the finale of a home-and-home series.
St. Louis finds itself trailing Colorado by one point for the final wild-card spot after seeing a two-goal advantage evaporate before defenseman Duncan Keith scored with 8.5 seconds to play in Wednesday's 4-3 loss versus Chicago. "It (stinks), but at the end of the day, we have to stay positive. Two-game winning streak here to get into the postseason," forward Brayden Schenn said, with the Blues wrapping up their season with Saturday's road tilt against the Avalanche. The Blackhawks have just three wins in their last 10 outings (3-5-2) as they head toward their first spring without a playoff appearance since 2007-08, although the team addressed its future on Thursday by announcing that senior vice president/general manager Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville will remain in their current positions next season. "You've seen a lot of teams that missed the playoffs last year that are now back in the hunt to win the Stanley Cup. I want that to be the Blackhawks going forward," Blackhawks CEO John McDonough said. "I have confidence in Stan and Joel figuring this out."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Chicago
ABOUT THE BLUES (43-31-6): Vladimir Tarasenko (team-leading 33 goals) joined fellow 26-year-old Schenn by scoring and setting up a goal on Wednesday, with the former boosting his career total versus the Blackhawks to 23 (14 goals, nine assists) in 22 career encounters. Schenn continued his career season with 10 points in his last 12 games, boosting his personal-best totals in goals (27), assists (40) and points (67). Fellow forward Kyle Brodziak has set up three goals in his last two games to give him 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in his last 13.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (33-37-10): Rookie Alex DeBrincat, who had a hat trick in a 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis on March 18, scored and set up a goal on Wednesday to boost his point total to 10 (six goals, four assists) in his past nine games. DeBrincat's team-leading 28 tallies are one more than former Hart Trophy recipient Patrick Kane, who has 52 points (19 goals, 33 assists) in 56 career contests versus the Blues. "It'd be nice to see them miss the playoffs. So it's be nice to have a hand in that," Kane told the Chicago Sun-Times.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis has won five of its last seven trips to the United Center, postseason included.
2. Keith has four points (one goal, three assists) versus the Blues this season.
3. St. Louis is 1-for-17 on the power play in its last eight games.