PREVIEW: Blackhawks Meet Rival Blues for First Time This Season

TIME: 7 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH | RADIO: WGN 720 AM | STREAM:
MyTeamsApp
(In Market) &
ESPN+
(Out of Market)
The Blackhawks wrap the weekend back-to-back on Saturday night with the first meeting of the year against the rival St. Louis Blues.

TEAM RECORDS

• CHI: 0-6-2, 2 PTS
• STL: 5-1-0, 10 PTS

HOW TO WATCH

Don't miss a minute of the action with John Wiedeman and Eddie Olczyk on NBC Sports Chicago. Colby Cohen joins Pat Boyle in studio for pre and postgame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. Viewers in the Chicago area can stream the game on the
MyTeamsApp
, while out of market fans can stream on
ESPN+
.
You can also listen to the game on WGN Radio with Alan Fuehring and Paul Caponigri on the call.

DIVISONAL DUEL

For just the second time on the young season, the Blackhawks will face a division opponent on Saturday night in St. Louis. With a 5-1-0 start, the Blues sit atop the Central while Chicago sits in seventh, one spot ahead of Arizona, with both teams still in search of their first wins. The Blackhawks dropped a 4-2 result to Colorado in the season opener in the only other divisional contest.
In an early-season schedule oddity, Chicago met an Eastern Conference team for the sixth time in eight games on Friday night in Carolina. With games against Ottawa and Carolina at home on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, the Blackhawks will already be 25% of the way through their Eastern Conference schedule just 11 games into the year.

STREAKS

Seth Jones notched his team-leading seventh point/assist in Friday's game against Carolina, extending his point/assist streak to four games (5A). The longest assist streak of his career is five games, set from Feb. 4-13, 2021 last season with Columbus (6A).
With his power-play goal last night, Alex DeBrincat has goals in consecutive contests (2G). Philipp Kurashev also has assists in back-to-back games (2A).

FLEURY IN NET

Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to get the starting nod in net on the second half of the back-to-back with Kevin Lankinen drawing net duty on Friday night in Carolina.
Fleury's last start saw him make a season-high 37 saves in a 6-3 loss to Detroit on Wednesday night.

JOHNSON LIKELY OUT

After leaving Friday's game in the second period, Tyler Johnson is unlikely to play in Saturday's game with what heach coach Jeremy Colliton described as a stinger in his neck and shoulder area.

KIRBY FULLY LOADED

Third-year forward
Kirby Dach
skated in a career-high 21:36 of ice time on Friday night. He scored his third goal of the year on Wednesday night, topping the two he registered in 18 games last season.
Dach recorded a three-game point streak (2G, 1A) from Oct. 15-19. His career long is five games, which he accomplished twice during his rookie season. Dach netted a goal in consecutive games (Oct. 15 and 16) for the first time since his rookie season (Nov. 10 and Nov. 13, 2019).
The forward shares eighth in the league with nine takeaways this year, just two of the league lead. Dach registered a season high of three on Sunday.