The St. Louis Blues complete their two-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (Dec. 9) at 7 pm CST, their second game against Chicago this season. After a 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday (Dec. 8), the Blues have lost two in a row and there is a possibility that it could extend to three with the way the Blues have been playing recently. With a lack of goalscoring, defensive breakdowns, and too many goals allowed, they will have a chance to prove that they are ready to end their short slump in Chicago.
The Blues are entering the United Center against a Blackhawks team fresh off a 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (Dec. 7). The task of winning against the Blackhawks is hard to consider an easy one, but the Blues have a 1-0 advantage in the season series, so their confidence going into this game should be high. Let’s take a look at what to expect from the Blues in this game.
Blues vs Blackhawks in the Standings
The two back-to-back losses the Blues received were enough to push them down to the sixth spot in the Central Division and move the Nashville Predators up to fifth. At 13-12-1 through 26 games played this season, the Blues are slowly dropping to the .500 mark in points percentage and could be under .500 if they keep up this slump. On top of that, the road hasn’t been pleasant to them with a record of 6-8-1 through 15 games this season. One more loss could drop them even lower in the Western Conference with teams like the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers fighting to find some sort of passage into a playoff spot.
Related: Blues’ 3 Up, 3 Down: Streak Continues, Binnington, Kyrou & More
Playing through 25 games already, the Blackhawks have been nowhere near a playoff contender (8-16-1) this season but have a promising look with players like Connor Bedard, Philipp Kurashev, and Kevin Korchinski leading the way since Corey Perry’s departure on Nov. 30. However, they are sitting dead last in the Central Division and have no sign of improvement from that position. Although, both their home and road records don’t look too good, at home they look more comfortable with a 4-6-1 record through 11 games this season. With that being said, after beating the Ducks at home in their last game, the Blackhawks will be eager to feed off of the Blues’ losing streak.
Blue to Watch For: Colton Parayko
Recently Colton Parayko is beginning to put himself on the line for the Blues. In the last five games, he has six hits and 16 blocks which is more than any other defenseman on the Blues in that span. With the Blues trading Robert Bortuzzo to the New York Islanders, grit is something they’ll need more of from Parayko and Faulk. Parayko hasn’t been an offensive defenseman this season with only eight points in 26 games played, but he is certainly a player worth noting on the defensive end and was stellar against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (Dec. 6).
This season the Blues are 24th in blocks (373) and Parayko (60) and Justin Faulk (57) are the only two players with over 50. Parayko hasn’t been as gritty with only 30 hits this season but is probably the best defensive defenseman the Blues have. The only issue Parayko is posing has been that he is top three on the Blues in goals against at even-strength (26) and is a minus-2 in plus/minus. You can’t blame him entirely when he has the most minutes out of all Blues defensemen and the team is failing to put pucks in the net.
Lack of Goals Holding Them Back
In the first two months of the season, the Blues were below the top 20 in goalscoring and it hasn’t shown any sign of change since then. In their last five games, they have scored 14 goals but it’s still not more than what they’ve given up in that span (20). If wasn’t for Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jake Neighbours, the Blues’ goalscoring totals would probably be a lot worse than it is now.
Some of the main factors in this could be the lack of goal-scoring from both Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn who are usually the top guys on the team other than Thomas and Buchnevich but are also going through slumps themselves. In their last five games, Schenn has scored two goals and Kyrou has only scored once. However, the Blues’ failure to capitalize on the power play is another factor in why they are not scoring. This season they are second last on the power play with a power play percentage of 9.1 percent.
Blues Gameday Notes
Here are some Blues pre-game notes to keep in mind for this game:
- The Blues are seventh in the league in shots against per game (32.8).
- When scoring first, the Blues are still 12-0-0, the only undefeated NHL team to do so this season.
- Physically, the Blues are one of the better teams in the league sitting in the top 15 in hits so far this season (441).
- Connor Bedard and Jake Neighbours are the only players under 22 years old to lead their team in goals in the NHL.
After this matchup, the Blues will go back home to face the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 12. They will meet the Blackhawks again on Dec. 23 at home.
