The Chicago Blackhawks are going to take on the St. Louis Blues for the final time on Saturday.
The Chicago Blackhawks have reached the final Saturday of the regular season. They will face one of their biggest rivals, the St. Louis Blues, at the United Center as part of a four-game home stand to end the season.
This game will have some extra juice, as the Blackhawks organization will be honoring the members of its brand-new Blackhawks Hall of Fame. The inaugural class had a ceremony on Friday night, and they will be honored again ahead of the game on Saturday.
Scouting St. Louis
The Blues had a slow start to the season, again. They also picked it up in a big way in the second half, again. This has been the story of the franchise since they went from worst to first in 2019, which ended with them hoisting the Stanley Cup.
This year is going to be a little different, however, as it seems like they have run out of gas. They are not mathematically eliminated yet, but going 4-0 to end the season and jumping four teams, including the Los Angeles Kings losing out, is extremely unlikely.
The Blues’ lineup is one with high-end talent, but a lot of them had up-and-down seasons for whatever reason. Robert Thomas drives the bus offensively, and each of their defense pairs has a strong play-driver.
Holloway-Thomas-Snuggerud
Stenberg-Buchnevich-Kyrou
Neighbours-Dvorsky-Berggren
Toropchenko-Suter-Sundqvist
Broberg-Mailloux
Lindstein-Parayko
Fowler-Tucker
Hofer
Binnington
In goal, they have Joel Hofer, who has emerged as their number one, but Jordan Binnington is a Stanley Cup-winning Team Canada starter in his own right. Whoever goes in net presents a challenge for the opposition.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks had their forward lines in a blender during practice on Friday. Jeff Blashill is experimenting with things as the season winds down. Now is the time to see what works and what doesn’t, knowing the team isn’t going to the playoffs.
Greene - Bedard - Lardis
Bertuzzi - Frondell - Mikheyev
Donato - Nazar - Burakovsky
Mangiapane - Boisvert - Teravainen
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Rinzel
Korchinski-Del Mastro
Knight
Soderblom
Connor Bedard, Anton Frondell, and Frank Nazar continue their run as a three-headed monster down the middle. It is their wingers who changed up a bit.
Ryan Greene jumps back up to Connor Bedard’s wing, and Sacha Boisvert will make his United Center debut as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks as the fourth-line center.
There was no morning skate on Saturday, so warmups will reveal who starts in goal. With three games remaining, it is likely that Spencer Knight gets two starts and Arvid Soderblom gets one.
UPDATE:
Arvid Soderblom is in the net. The Blackhawks are going with 13 forwards and 5 defensemen. Ethan Del Mastro is out, Sam Lafferty is in as a defenseman, and Sacha Boisvert is in the lineup.
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it is available on CHSN locally. Nationally, it is available to stream on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 4:00 PM CT.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay up to date on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting on the article below on THN.com or by creating your own post in our community forum.