The Blackhawks conclude their three-game road trip Saturday when they play the Blues for the second time this month Saturday in St. Louis.
Chicago (12-14-6) enters the Central Division matchup on a three-game losing steak (0-2-1) and has lost six of its last eight after a 5-2 loss to the Coyotes on Thursday night in Glendale, Arizona. Jonathan Toews and Dylan Strome scored for the Blackhawks, who played their first game this season without top defensemen Duncan Keith (groin) and Calvin de Haan (right shoulder).
The Blackhawks have struggled in their own zone with Keith out for seven games. They’ve allowed 29 goals in that span, including 13 in their last three.
Corey Crawford is expected to start after Robin Lehner made 35 saves in his second loss in a five-day span against Arizona on Thursday. Crawford is 1-5 in his past six starts against St. Louis, including a 28-save shutout in the Blackhawks’ 1-0 win Nov. 14, 2018, in Chicago. He’s 6-8-2 with a .909 save percentage in 17 games this season.
The Blues (19-8-6) had forward Oskar Sundqvist return from a lower-body injury Thursday and had a goal and an assist in St. Louis’ 4-2 home win against Vegas. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson was placed on injured reserve Friday with an upper-body injury he sustained Thursday.
St. Louis will have forward Alexander Steen (ankle sprain) return Saturday, and Zach Sanford (upper body) is questionable. Steen has been out since Nov. 6 and five assists in 17 games this season. He has 11 goals and 13 assists in 50 career games against Chicago.
The Blues remain in second place in the Western Conference and Central Division to Colorado despite the injuries, including star right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) being out for the season. St. Louis is 6-1-1 against divisional opponents this season.
Goaltender Jordan Binnington will make his first career start against Chicago. He’s 14-6-4 with a .921 save percentage and one shoutout this season.
Forward Tyler Bozak will play in his 700th career game Saturday. He has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 33 games this season.
Season series
The Blues shut out the Blackhawks 4-0 in the first meeting of the season Dec. 2 in Chicago. The Blackhawks were shorthanded and dressed only 11 forwards and six defensemen due to injury and illness. Jaden Schwartz scored a power-play goal and had an assist for his third multipoint game in his career against Chicago. Jake Allen recorded a 38-save shutout.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Blues
47.9% (25th) — Corsi For — 49.04% (20th)
48.8% (24th) — Faceoffs — 51.4% (8th)
2.66 (24th) — Goals per game — 2.97 (17th)
3.09 (t-12th) — Goals against per game — 2.64 (27th)
16.7% (22nd) — Power play — 22.2% (8th)
79.8% (t-17th) — Penalty kill — 84% (8th)
Lineups
BLACKHAWKS
Kubalik — Toews — Saad
DeBrincat — Strome — Kane
Smith — Kampf — Carpenter
Nylander — Dach — Highmore
Gustafsson — Murphy
Gilbert — Seabrook
Maatta — Boqvist
Crawford
Lehner
BLUES
Schwartz — Schenn — Kyrou
Perron — O’Reilly — Bozak
Barbashev — Thomas — Steen
MacEachern — De la Rose — Sundqvist
Parayko — Pietrangelo
Bouwmeester — Faulk
Dunn — Bortuzzo
Binnington
Allen
How to watch
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Live stream: NBC Sports app, NHL.TV