Blackhawks at Blues
The St. Louis Blues look to rebound from their worst defeat of the season when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon. St. Louis saw its seven-game winning streak and franchise-record 13-game point run (12-0-1) come to a screeching halt following a 7-1 setback at Columbus on Friday. "They outplayed us," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We were unfocused at times. We trended this way the last three games. It caught up to us. We'll regroup and get ready for Sunday."
The Blues have made themselves quite comfortable at home, posting an 8-0-1 record in their last nine at Scottrade Center. Chicago is set to play the final contest of its seven-game road trip after improving to 3-3-0 on the trek with a 2-1 overtime victory in Winnipeg on Friday. Brandon Saad scored 3:01 into the extra session to notch his fourth game-winning goal of the season while also ending a four-game stretch without recording a point.
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, RSN360
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (32-18-2): All-Star Patrick Kane netted his team-leading 26th goal in the second period to end Chicago's scoring drought at 149 minutes, 25 seconds before setting up Saad's overtime tally. "Kaner was dangerous," coach Joel Quenneville told the team's website following the superstar's 17th multi-point performance of the season. "He made several plays (Friday) that were kind of characteristic of how he has been all year." Kane notched an assist in the Blackhawks' 3-2 loss to the Blues on Oct. 25 before scoring twice in a 4-1 victory on Dec. 3.
ABOUT THE BLUES (34-14-7): Brian Elliott had his five-game winning streak snapped in pronounced fashion Friday, yielding four goals on 14 shots to earn an early shower. The All-Star is expected to be back in net to face the Blackhawks, versus whom he improved to 5-5-1 after turning aside 22 shots in the teams' first meeting. Paul Stastny scored St. Louis' lone goal against the Blue Jackets, extending his point streak to four games while notching his sixth point in seven contests.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago G Corey Crawford owns an impressive 11-2-3 mark versus St. Louis, but the All-Star has not started either meeting this season.
2. Blues C Jori Lehtera (upper body) skated on Saturday, but Hitchcock told reporters he would not play against the Blackhawks.
3. Chicago LW Kris Versteeg collected two goals and as many assists in the first two meetings but isn't expected to return from long-term injured reserve (hand) until later in the week.