Blackhawks at Blues
THE STORY: The St. Louis Blues have sent a strong signal to their
players and fans that they are not willing to give up on this season.
And the way things have been going is unacceptable. The Blues on Sunday
fired coach Davis Payne and brought in former Stanley Cup winner Ken
Hitchcock. Hitchcock, who has a 534-350-88-70 career record, signed a
contract through next season and will be behind the bench when St. Louis
begins a five-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
The Blackhawks have dropped back-to-back games for the first time this
season and are coming off a 6-2 home loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
While scoring has not been an issue, Chicago has struggled on the other
end lately, allowing at least four goals in three of the last four
games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CS Chicago, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT
THE BLACKHAWKS (8-3-3): Chicago cruised through the first month of its
schedule but got a wake-up call Sunday, especially on the penalty kill.
The Blackhawks clearly have some holes to fill after surrendering five
power-play goals to the Canucks. After killing off 31-of-33 penalties in
its first 10 games, Chicago has gone 4 of 11 over the last four.
ABOUT
THE BLUES (6-7-0): St. Louis has dropped three of four, with the final
straw apparently coming for Payne in a 2-1 loss at Minnesota on
Saturday. The Blues imported veterans Jason Arnott and Jamie
Langenbrunner in the off-season but have struggled tremendously on
special teams. They are 30th and last on the power play, converting only
7.5 percent of their opportunities. Hitchcock needs to get better play
out of goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who is 1-6 with a 3.35 goals against
average.
OVERTIME:
1. Hitchcock most recently coached the Canadian National Team in the World Championships.
2. The Blackhawks took four of six meetings last season, but only one of three in St. Louis.
3. Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford is 3-0-1 against the Blues.