Chicago Blackhawks @ St. Louis Blues 7PM Central WGN/Fox Sports Midwest
THE BUZZ
At 8-7-1, the Blackhawks sent up the Bat Signal and Batman and Robin are on their way. Well, Duncan Keith and Michal Rozsival anyway.
Both veteran defenseman return to action tonight for a team desperately in search of answers. With their return, a shuffling of the defense. Keith gets paired with Niklas Hjalmarsson, Rozsival with Trevor Daley. Their effect on the team tonight will clearly depend on how game-ready each is. In theory, Rozsival should hep stabilize Daley; Keith should help the Hawks’ transition game and special teams.
The forward lines have been shuffled as well. Marko Dano gets another shot on the top line. But perhaps more intriguingly, Marcus Kruger centers Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen. Kruger and Teravainen have exhibited some chemistry in the past.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Chicago
Dano Toews Hossa Panarin Anisimov Kane Shaw Kruger Teravainen Mashinter Kero Garbutt
Keith Hjalmarsson Van Riemsdyk Seabrook Daley Rozsival
Crawford
St. Louis
Steen Lehtera Tarasenko Upshall Backes Fabbri Paajarvi Gomez Brouwer Jaskin Brodziak Reaves
Bouwmeester Pietrangelo Edmundson Shattenkirk Gunnarson Parayko
Allen
I’ll recap tomorrow.
JJ