St. Louis Blues Host Chicago Blackhawks, Look to Tighten Division Race

2 of 2

Dec 15, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Nail Yakupov (64) handles the puck against the New Jersey Devils during the second period at Scottrade Center. The Blues won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Projected Lineup

The Blues are expected to roll with the same lineup that carried them to victory Thursday night against New Jersey. As long as Carl Gunnarsson–who’s now considered to be fully healthy–doesn’t replace surging Brad Hunt on Saturday, there’s no obvious reason to change anything.

Of course, that means Nail Yakupov will stay in the lineup for a third straight game. The 23-year-old, who scored his first goal since October 20 and played more minutes (13:06) than he’s played any time since November 10 in Thursday’s win, appears to be on the right track after roughly six weeks of serious struggles.

Next: Who was St. Louis's Best Under-the-Radar Athlete in 2016?

Here’s what the Blues’ lineup is expected to look like against Chicago:

Jaden Schwartz–Paul Stastny–Nail Yakupov

Robby Fabbri–Jori Lehtera–Vladimir Tarasenko

Alexander Steen-Patrik Berglund–David Perron

Scottie Upshall–Kyle Brodziak–Ryan Reaves

Joel Edmundson–Alex Pietrangelo

Carl Gunnarsson–Kevin Shattenkirk

Jay Bouwmeester–Colton Parayko

Jake Allen

UPDATE, 12:12 PM: Because Ken Hitchcock doesn’t like relegating players to permanent healthy scratch duty on the basis of injury, Carl Gunnarsson is expected to replace Brad Hunt–who has points in all four of his games with the Blues–on Saturday night.

Home/St. Louis Blues