Blackhawks at Blues
The Chicago Blackhawks begin the upcoming playoffs in a familiar place, as they defended their 2013 Stanley Cup title the following spring with a spirited opening-round series against the St. Louis Blues. The Blackhawks start their quest for their fourth championship in seven years in the Gateway City on Wednesday against a St. Louis club that has been unceremoniously bounced in the first round in each of the past three seasons.
Blues captain David Backes doesn't have fond memories of that 2014 series, a competitive set that saw his team win the first two contests in overtime before losing four straight - highlighted by a brutal hit he absorbed at the hands of defenseman Brent Seabrook. "We've got a heck of a group in here," Backes said after returning to practice on Tuesday following a three-game absence due to a lower-body injury. "It's our time in here to make a real dent in this tournament." St. Louis skated to a 2-1 overtime victory over Chicago on April 7 to win three of the five meetings in the season series and 14 of its final 17 games overall before a setback to Washington two nights later enabled Dallas to claim the division title. The Blues' consolation prize for finishing second is a date with the now-healthy Blackhawks, who finished the season on a 5-1-2 run.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TVAS, SN360, CSN Chicago, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (47-26-9): Patrick Kane put an exclamation point on becoming the first American-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy by collecting seven goals and five assists during a season-ending five-game point streak. The 2013 Conn Smythe Trophy winner scored two goals and set up another in the finale versus Columbus, with his involvement in an otherwise meaningless game being necessitated as Chicago dealt with a bevy of injuries. Fellow forwards Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov and Andrew Shaw are expected to return from various ailments and goaltender Corey Crawford had no setbacks after facing the Blue Jackets following a near-long absence due to an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE BLUES (49-24-9): Vladimir Tarasenko continues to get better with age as the 24-year-old Russian scored six of his career-high 40 goals during an eight-game point streak to end the season. Tarasenko, who also posted a personal-best 74 points in 2015-16, recorded seven (five goals, two assists) versus Chicago this campaign - including both tallies in the overtime victory on Thursday. Tarasenko traditionally comes up big in the playoffs even when the rest of his team doesn't, as he scored four times in the 2014 series against the Blackhawks before netting six of his club's 14 goals in a first-round ouster versus Minnesota last spring.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago killed off 29-of-31 short-handed situations in the final 11 contests of the season, but yielded four power-play goals against St. Louis in 2015-16.
2. Blues G Brian Elliott capped an 11-game winning streak by turning aside 24 shots versus the Blackhawks on April 7.
3. Chicago D Duncan Keith will miss Wednesday's contests to complete his six-game suspension for high-sticking Minnesota's Charlie Coyle.