Blues at Blackhawks
After suffering a lopsided loss against one Central Division rival, the St. Louis Blues look to atone with a better showing versus another when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon. The Blues saw their lead atop the division trimmed to five points with a 4-0 setback to Colorado on Saturday afternoon. St. Louis' second setback in seven games dropped it two points behind Boston in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.
Chicago has hit the ground running since injured captain Jonathan Toews (upper body) joined reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Patrick Kane (lower body) on the sideline. The Blackhawks posted their second straight win on Friday as Ben Smith tapped home a rebound with four seconds remaining to lift his team to a wild 4-3 victory over Columbus. "It's always nice to win games," Smith said after scoring for the second straight contest. "We miss those guys big time, it's pretty clear, but guys are stepping up, guys are playing hard and we're playing - for the most part - a simple game."
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, TSN2
ABOUT THE BLUES (52-17-7): Captain David Backes has failed to record a point in his last three contests, but he took up for teammate Kevin Shattenkirk after the defenseman was cut by a high stick on Saturday. Backes elected to wrestle rookie Nathan MacKinnon to the ice, raising the ire of Patrick Roy. St. Louis' primary worry isn't the Avalanche coach, however, as it has scored two or fewer goals in seven of its last 10 contests.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (44-19-15): Chicago resides three points behind second-place Colorado in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round. The Blackhawks can improve their standing should Corey Crawford continue his dominance against the Blues. Crawford, who owns a 10-2-3 career mark versus St. Louis, turned aside all 23 shots he faced in Chicago's 4-0 victory on March 19.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis LW Alex Steen missed his second straight game Saturday with an upper-body injury.
2. Chicago LW Patrick Sharp collected a goal and an assist on Friday and has 17 points in his last 17 games to increase his career-best total to 75.
3. St. Louis' Ryan Miller will take a seat in favor of fellow G Brian Elliott, who has yielded just four goals on 99 shots in his last five appearances.