TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues came out on the wrong end of another tight battle on Tuesday, falling 5-4 to Toronto for their second straight overtime loss and third straight loss overall. The Blues have now played five overtime/shootout games out of their last eight, sharing the most in the NHL in that span.
Despite Torey Krug being placed on long-term injured reserve, the Blues defensemen had a productive game on Tuesday, scoring two goals and an assist against the Maple Leafs. Looking to heat up from a slow offensive start, Colton Parayko's assist brought him to seven points in December out of 10 overall this season.
Jordan Kyrou continued having his own strong month, returning to the lineup after two games out to score a game-tying goal in the third period. Kyrou is working on a five-game point streak heading into Thursday's battle, with his 11 points since Dec. 11 ranking No. 3 in the League.
Hosting the struggling Chicago Blackhawks, the Blues have a good opportunity to get back into the win column on Thursday against their longtime rivals. Their homestand will finish up on New Year's Eve against Minnesota before the Blues hit the road for a rematch with Toronto.
The Blues host Chicago with a record of 16-16-3, worth 35 points and fifth place in the Central Division.
BLACKHAWKS The Chicago Blackhawks continue to hit speed bumps in this transition season and are currently last place in the NHL standings as of Wednesday afternoon. They have won just two games since last seeing the Blues on Nov. 16 - an impressive win at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 3 and recently outlasting the Blue Jackets on home ice.
Their 5-2 win against Columbus right before the Christmas holiday break saw three points each from veterans Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the last two remaining players from Chicago's 2014-15 Stanley Cup Championship. On Dec. 18, Toews and Kane became the 11th pair of teammates in NHL history to play 1,000 games together.
With their eyes on the future, Chicago is seeing some positive returns from 24-year-old Taylor Raddysh and 23-year-old Philipp Kurashev. They have also started 23-year-old goaltender Arvid Soderblom in 13 games this season before missing time with an injury.
The Blackhawks head to St. Louis for the rivalry matchup with a record of 8-21-4, worth 20 points and eighth in the Central.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues beat the Blackhawks 5-2 at United Center during the Moms' Trip earlier this year - their third straight win against Chicago. The season series continues in St. Louis on Jan. 21 and wraps up in Chicago on March 30.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Jordan Kyrou, whose 17 goals on the season place him in the NHL's Top-20 as of Wednesday afternoon. Over the last two seasons, Kyrou leads all Blues with five points against the Blackhawks - including a pair in their ealier matchup this season.
BLACKHAWKS Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks captain and No. 3 on the team with 20 points this season. Toews' 872 points rank No. 6 in Blackhawks franchise history, currently in his 15th year with the club.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have earned points in 10 straight games against Chicago (8-0-2), their longest point streak in the matchup's history. The Blues have outscored the Blackhawks 36-17 in these 10 games, with a 30.8 percent power-play clip... Pavel Buchnevich is expected to dress in his 100th game as a Blue on Tuesday... The Blues have scored a power-play goal in five straight games, going 6-for-15 (40 percent) in that stretch to lead the League in efficiency and rank No. 2 in total goals (six). The Blues have improved their power play from No. 23 in the League prior to Dec. 15 to No. 11 since Dec. 16. They have also boasted a Top-5 penalty kill over their last eight games, denying 23 out of 26 opposing power plays.
The St. Louis Blues will continue adjusting to life without defenseman Torey Krug when they host the reeling Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night.
The Blues came back from their holiday break Tuesday without Krug, who landed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He is expected to miss six weeks.
"Obviously a very big part of our team, our back end," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It's a tough one, but I think it's just on us to step up. I think we've done a good job of guys coming in throughout the year and just stepping in when needed.
"Points are crucial obviously for our team, and it's just one of those things where we've got to focus on coming to the rink and preparing for each game no matter who is in the lineup."
Krug will be missed on the power play, where he has quarterbacked the team's top unit.
"He's one step ahead all the time with where the puck's going," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think that's the biggest thing; he moves it quick, he knows where it's going, knows where it should go. That's important."
The Blues recalled Tyler Tucker from the AHL to replace Krug on the roster. Berube plugged Calle Rosen into the lineup Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and moved Parayko onto the second power-play unit.
The Blues opened their three-game homestand by falling to the Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime. St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington was under siege for much of the game.
"Offensively they gave us a lot of issues there and took momentum too much at times," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's tough. We have to defend better against them. We kind of gave them a little too much and relied on (Binnington) to keep us in it. We scored some big goals, we kind of stuck with it there.
"It's a good point, but the position we're in right now, how tight this race is going to be, we need two points. It's disappointing that way, but some things to build off of."
The rebuilding Blackhawks enter on the heels of a 3-0 loss Tuesday to the Carolina Hurricanes. They got a career-high 46 saves from goaltender Petr Mrazek, but were shut out for the third time in their last 10 games.
"It's a little frustrating not to get enough offense to give Petr some scoring support he needs," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "I think we've got to be cleaner. Most of those shots were in the first period. I don't know if there's much we could have done better than just be a little sharper with our breakouts with the puck in the first period. I think that was pretty much the game right there."
Chicago is 2-16-1 in its last 19 games while the Blues are 4-1-3 in their last eight.
The Blues won the previous meeting between these teams 5-2 at Chicago on Nov. 16 with O'Reilly, Jordan Kyrou and Ivan Barbashev each scoring a goal and earning an assist. Andreas Athanasiou scored both Blackhawks goals in that game.
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