The Chicago Blackhawks will play the second half of a back-to-back Sunday when they host the St. Louis Blues at the United Center.
It’s the first meeting between the two heated Central Division rivals since Oct. 18, when the Blues skated away with a 5-2 home win. Jaden Schwartz led the Blues with his third career hat trick in the victory. Chicago and St. Louis meet three times in their final 11 games of the regular season. The Blues have found success lately in Chicago, with at least a point in six of their last eight games at the United Center.
The Hawks fell 5-3 on Saturday at Buffalo, snapping a 12-game win streak against the Sabres dating back to December 2009. Jordan Oesterle, Tomas Jurco and Jonathan Toews each scored one goal in the loss. Jean-Francois Berube made 27 saves for Chicago. It was the second straight game between the pipes for Berube, who entered in relief Thursday at Winnipeg.
Anton Forsberg is expected to start in net for Chicago. The 25-year-old is 9-15-3 with a 3.04 goals-against average and .905 save percentage this season. He has never faced the Blues in his career.
St. Louis is coming off a 4-3 overtime win Saturday against the New York Rangers. Alex Pietrangelo scored twice, Nikita Soshnikov tallied his first goal with St. Louis and Brayden Schenn netted the game-winner in overtime. However, the Blues lost star forward Vladimir Tarasenko to an upper-body injury in the first period. There’s no update yet on whether Tarasenko will play. He’s the Blues leading goal scorer (27) and second in points (58), and has 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in his last 12 games against Chicago.
The Blues are likely to give Jake Allen the night off after he stopped 17 shots against the Rangers. Allen is 7-4-1 in 12 games against Chicago. If St. Louis coach Mike Yeo opts to rest Allen, Ville Husso will make his NHL debut. The 23-year-old was recalled from AHL San Antonio just last week.
Lineups
Blackhawks
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| F1 | Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane |
| F2 | Matthew Highmore – Nick Schmaltz – Vinnie Hinostroza |
| F3 | Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Alex DeBrincat |
| F4 | Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – John Hayden |
| D1 | Duncan Keith – Jan Rutta |
| D2 | Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook |
| D3 | Jordan Oesterle – Connor Murphy |
| Goaltender | Anton Forsberg OR Jean-Francois Berube |
Blues
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| F1 | Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko |
| F2 | Patrik Berglund – Kyle Brodziak – Alex Steen |
| F3 | Dmitrij Jaskin – Vladimir Sobotka – Tage Thompson |
| F4 | Nikita Soshnikov – Ivan Barbashev – Chris Thorburn |
| D1 | Carl Gunnarsson – Alex Pietrangelo |
| D2 | Vince Dunn – Colton Parayko |
| D3 | Joel Edmundson – Robert Bortuzzo |
| Goaltender | Jake Allen OR Ville Husso |
*Lines are subject to change.
How to watch Blues at Blackhawks
Start time: 6:30 p.m., Central time
Location: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBC Sports Network