St. Louis Blues Look to Continue Winning Streak as Chicago Blackhawks Come to Town
As the Chicago Blackhawks visit Scottrade for a “Wednesday Night Rivalry” game, can the St. Louis Blues extend their winning streak to three games?
After a two-day layoff, the St. Louis Blues resume their schedule again on Wednesday night, welcoming the Chicago Blackhawks into Scottrade Center for the first time this season as the teams face off in a nationally-televised “Wednesday Night Rivalry” game on NBCSN. This will be the second time that the two teams have met this season; the Blues defeated the Blackhawks 5-2 at United Center in their season opener back on October 12.
The Blues have been on a nice little run as of late; after an embarrassing two-game losing streak in which they were outscored 11-2, the Blues rebounded this past weekend to sweep a home back-to-back against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche, outscoring their opponents 7-2. They’ll look to extend their streak to three games on Wednesday.
That feat won’t be easy, however, against a tough Chicago team. The Blackhawks are on a six-game winning streak and have not scored less than three goals in a game since an October 14 loss to Nashville, their second game of the season. They’re in first place in the Central Division (and tied for the Western Conference lead) with a 9-3-1 record.
The Blackhawks are surprisingly led in points by 28-year-old center Artem Anisimov, who is on pace to shatter his previous career high of 44 points. Anisimov already has eight goals, nine assists, and a plus-11 rating through 13 games. Among players who have played in every game for their team this season, Anisimov has the most points per game (1.31) of anyone in the league.
Wednesday’s game should be a good test of whether the Blues’ lineup has actually discovered its scoring touch, or whether two subpar opponents helped propel them to two wins this weekend. Here’s the lineup that they’re expected to go to battle with: