Preview: Blues vs. Blackhawks

When: Saturday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: Bally Sports, Bally Sports App
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at Ticketmaster.com

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES After a difficult loss on Tuesday night, the St. Louis Blues bounced back in a big way for a 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers. After three straight losses in net, Joel Hofer denied a career-high 37 shots to get back into the win column. The lone Panthers goal came after an unlikely bounce off the glass at the end of the bench.

"To be honest with you, that is the response I expected," said Drew Bannister, showing confidence in his roster. "It's a character team in there... They dug in there tonight."

The line of Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou continued their success, rebounding from a scoreless outing in Tampa to total eight points and drive the road win over the defending Eastern Conference champions. Since the Dec. 14 win over Ottawa, Kyrou, Thomas and Buchnevich have a combined 19 points in four games.

The Blues head back to Enterprise Center for a three-game homestand, surrounding the Holiday break with divisional battles against Chicago, Dallas and Colorado.

They'll host Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks with a record of 16-15-1, worth 33 points and sixth in the Central Division.

BLACKHAWKS The Chicago Blackhawks snapped a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 at United Center. Back-to-back power-play goals gave Colorado a 2-1 lead midway through the first period, but Chicago's Lukas Reichel quickly tied the score.

During an eventful third period that eventually saw three players served misconduct penalties, Tyler Johnson's eighth goal of the year gave the Blackhawks the lead. Connor Bedard added two assists, extending his lead on the NHL rookie points leaderboard.

The win was Chicago's first since beating the Blues on Dec. 9, following consecutive losses to Washington, Edmonton, Seattle and Vancouver. Bedard's seven points lead the team in that span, the 18-year-old rookie's 29 points on the season are 12 more than the next highest-scoring Blackhawk (Philipp Kurashev).

The Blackhawks began a back-to-back on Friday night, hosting the Canadiens - who are in the midst of a seven-game road trip - before their one-game trip to St. Louis. The Blackhawks got out to a 2-0 lead, but Montreal scored five unanswered goals to take the 5-2 win.

Chicago visits the Blues with a record of 10-21-1, worth 21 points and eighth in the Central Division.

HEAD TO HEAD The Blues are 1-1-0 against the rival Blackhawks, playing their third of four matchups this season after two visits to Chicago. Going back to April 3, 2019, the Blues are 11-2-2 in their last 15 games against Chicago.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Pavel Buchnevich, who bounced back from a tough outing in Tampa for his third three-point night of the season on Thursday night. Buchnevich is second on the team with 26 points this season, including one goal and two assists against Chicago on Nov. 26.

BLACKHAWKS Connor Bedard, leading all NHL rookies with 29 points in 32 games this season. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick has seven points in his last five games, though is scoreless in two career matchups with the Blues.

BLUE NOTES

• The Blues lost their last home game against the Blackhawks, but are 6-1-1 in their last eight home games against Chicago, including a six-game home win streak from Oct. 27, 2018 to Dec. 29, 2022
• The Blues are 14-1-0 when scoring first this season, which shares the 3rd most wins in the NHL. Starting 12-0-0, The Blues were the last team in the League to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first this season
• Seven Blues prospects are currently slated for their countries rosters for the upcoming 2024 World Junior Championship: Dalibor Dvorsky (SVK), Jimmy Snuggerud (USA), Juraj Pekarcik (SVK), Otto Stenberg (SWE), Theo Lindstein (SWE), Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (FIN), and Jakub Stancl (CZE)
• Robert Thomas has 12 points in his last nine games and has 18 points in his last 15 games. Since Nov. 1, Thomas has 30 points, which shares sixth in the NHL in that span
• The Blues are 3-1-0 under interim head coach Drew Bannister, who became the fourth coach in franchise history to start his tenure with back-to-back wins