Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET, the Chicago Blackhawks (1-0-1) tangle with the St. Louis Blues (2-0-0) in the first of five meetings this season live from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The game can be live streamed here. Chicago fans can access all the action on 720 WGN, while St. Louis fans can do the same on KMOX 1120.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks hit the road for the first time in 2013 while the Blues look to go 3-0-0 behind red-hot goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
Halak and Brian Elliot make up a great 1-2 punch in a goalie tandem for St. Louis, and Halak has paved the way for the Blues thus far by stopping 47 of 49 shots, allowing just two goals through the team's first two wins after putting up a 6-5-1 record last year with a 2.14 GAA and a .899 save percentage in 2013's shortened campaign.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews scored three goals against the Blues last season en route to Chicago's 3-1-1 record against St. Louis. Toews hasn't scored yet this season, but he does have an assist. In 2013, the captain had 23 goals and 25 assists for 48 points through 47 games, and in the postseason he went 3-11-14 as Chicago notched its second Stanley Cup in four years.
Chicago blew a 2-0 third period lead against Tampa Bay Saturday at home and eventually lost 3-2 in the shootout, so the club knows it has to put together a complete game to avoid a similar fate tonight.
"It's about playing a full 60 minutes, and we might have had a little lull there," forward Ben Smith told The Chicago Sun-Times following the loss. "But that's just early in the year. Some things happen, and it's important as long as we learn from it and move forward. Things will be all right."
The Blues, who have seven players with at least one goal, enter their third game of the year off of a dominant 7-0 win over the Florida Panthers. Halak reached a milestone Saturday as he notched his 17th shutout with St. Louis to take the franchise mark.
"It's a special feeling," Halak said of his record, according to NHL.com, "but it's only the start of the season. We got two wins, I got one shutout, but I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates ... none of them."
The Hawks counter with Corey Crawford, who has stopped 42 shots while allowing six goals so far through the first two games. Last year Crawford went 19-5-5 with a sparkling 1.94 GAA and .926 save percentage in the regular season and then 16-7-0 with a 1.84 GAA and a .932 save percentage while back stopping Chicago to the Cup.
Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad each have goals in Chicago's first two games while Alexander Steen has two goals and three points through two contests for St Louis.
Two rivals square off tonight as the Blues look to go to 3-0 and the Blackhawks hope to start their road schedule with a victory tonight in St. Louis.
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