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WATCH LIVE: Blues visit Blackhawks on Wednesday Night Hockey

By Sean LeahyNov 14, 2018, 7:30 PM EST
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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Wednesday night’s matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The Blackhawks and Blues find themselves at the bottom of the Central Division eneytering Wednesday’s meeting. Chicago took the first two meetings in overtime, but St. Louis got one back with a 7-3 victory on Oct. 27.

New Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton is still looking for his first win since replacing Joel Quenneville. Chicago is 0-2-1 under Colliton, which has extended their losing streak to eight games. That loss to the Blues was the game that started this current slide. They’ve not had a nine-game losing streak since the 2011-12 NHL season.

“I believe we’re on the right track. I believe we will turn this around. I think we’ve got really good players,” said Colliton. “When things are going against you over a long period of time, it’s not easy to get out of it. The circumstances are what they are. We’ve got to find a way to get it done. We can and we will.”

The dark clouds that were above the Blues earlier this season have brightened as they’ve won four of their last six. During that six-game stretch they’ve sliced their goals against per game from 4 to 2.5. Ryan O'Reilly is also excelling with eight goals and 17 points during a 10-game point streak.

Jake Allen‘s play was a factor in the Blues’ slow start, which opened the door for Chad Johnson, who’s played well in net for the last three games. He’s stopped 86 of the last 90 shots he’s faced and will get his chance to continue to shine during this current three-game road trip. Tonight, however, it’s Allen’s net versus the Blackhawks.

“He’s been our best player. You’ve seen countless times the big saves he’s making that are giving us a chance to win,” O’Reilly said about Johnson. “He’s stood on his head and it’s helped a lot. It’s helped us find our groove and do some good things. We have to be better in front of him, though.”

[WATCH LIVE – 8 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks
Where: United Center
When: Wednesday, November 14th, 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Blues-Blackhawks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

BLUES
Jaden Schwartz – Ryan O’Reilly – Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri – Tyler Bozak – Alexander Steen
Zach Sanford – Robert Thomas – David Perron
Patrick Maroon – Ivan Barbashev – Oskar Sundqvist

Carl Gunnarsson – Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn – Jordan Schmaltz
Joel Edmundson – Jay Bouwmeester

Starting goalie: Jake Allen

BLACKHAWKS
Nick Schmaltz – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – John Hayden
Alex DeBrincat – David Kampf – Dominik Kahun
Chris Kunitz – Luke Johnson – Andreas Martinsen

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning – Gustav Forling

Starting goalie: Corey Crawford

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

Wednesday Night Hockey: ‘Hawks look to end 8-game losing skid vs. Blues

By Joey AlfieriNov 14, 2018, 10:24 AM EST
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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Wednesday night’s matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues at 7:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The Blackhawks felt like they needed a coaching change, so they decided to let head coach Joel Quenneville go. They replaced him with 33-year-old Jeremy Colliton. A new, fresh face. Unfortunately for the ‘Hawks the results haven’t been new and fresh under their new coach.

Under Colliton, the team is 0-2-1, as they’ve lost games to Carolina (twice) and Philadelphia. That means that the Blackhawks have now dropped eight games in a row. They haven’t taken home two points since Oct. 25 when they beat the New York Rangers, 4-1. If they fail to win tonight, they’ll have gone more than three weeks without a victory.

“I believe we’re on the right track,” Colliton said after Monday’s loss to Carolina. “I believe we will turn this around. I think we’ve got really good players. When things are going against you over a long period of time, it’s not easy to get out of it. The circumstances are what they are. We’ve got to find a way to get it done. We can and we will.”

Chicago has a ton of issues to sort out, but lack of quality scoring options up front is definitely a pressing one. Of the 51 goals they’ve scored in 2018-19, 30 have been scored by either Patrick Kane (12), Jonathan Toews (9) and Alex DeBrincat (9). The only other player with more than two goals is Brandon Saad, and he only has four.

Things haven’t really gone much better for the Blues. At 6-6-3, they currently find themselves one point behind the Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings.

On a positive note, their big off-season acquisition, Ryan O'Reilly, has been rolling. He’s accumulated 17 points during a 10-game point streak that dates back to Oct. 17. In all, he has eight goals and 21 points in 15 contests with his new team.

The other intriguing storyline for the Blues in this game, is that they’ve been starting Chad Johnson over Jake Allen. Johnson has started three games in a row, and he’s given up just four goals during that stretch. He also won two of those three outings. Meanwhile, Allen has continued to struggle with consistency, as he has a 4-3-3 record to go along with a 3.99 goals-against-average and a .879 save percentage. Ugly.

“He’s been our best player,” O’Reilly said of Johnson. “You’ve seen countless times the big saves he’s making that are giving us a chance to win. He’s stood on his head and it’s helped a lot. It’s helped us find our groove and do some good things. We have to be better in front of him, though.”

If the Blues are going to prolong the Blackhawks’ misery, they’re going to have to do without Brayden Schenn, who will sit out fourth straight game because of an upper-body injury.

This will be the fourth matchup of the season between these two teams. Chicago won the first two in overtime, while the Blues managed to take home a decision the last time. The loser of this game will be in the basement of the Central Division.

Six-time Emmy Award-winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk, and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Brian Boucher will have the call from United Center in Chicago.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.

The Buzzer: Wheeler keeps dealing; big apples

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By James O'BrienNov 10, 2018, 1:40 AM EST
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Three Stars

1. Blake Wheeler

What a night for the wildly underrated Winnipeg Jets captain.

Wheeler scored a goal and four assists, crossing 400 for his (again, wildly underrated) career. That milestone helper came as he read Nathan MacKinnon to create a turnover and set the table for Nikolaj Ehlers. Three of Wheeler’s four assists were primary helpers, too.

As usual, the winger brought a great all-around game, earning a +3 rating and logging a significant 3:13 of shorthanded time.

This virtuoso performance extended Wheeler’s point streak to nine games (two goals, 15 assists). Wheeler’s now at 21 points on the season, with 18 of them being assists, which ranks second in the NHL.

Mark Scheifele had a strong game against the struggling Avs, too, scoring a goal and two assists.

2. Mikael Granlund

The Wild absolutely dominated the Ducks, who seem to have no gear other than “hope John Gibson and a few deadly shooters can save the day.”

Granlund and Jason Zucker both generated three points, so you could consider them tied for the second star. Granlund gets the slight edge because he scored two goals and one assist, while Zucker generated two assists and one goal. Again, you could make the argument that Zucker should get that nod instead (or be the third star, if you’re really being difficult), as he had five SOG to Granlund’s two, and Zucker’s tally was the GWG.

Still, Granlund enjoyed a slightly more impressive night, including really making it easy for Zucker on his goal.

The Wild are quietly heating up, with wins in nine of their last 11 games. Bruce Boudreau just finds ways to keep his team’s regular-season-relevant, doesn’t he? Granlund and Zucker deserve serious credit for stepping up with Eric Staal banged up.

3. Chad Johnson

Friday was a solid night for goalies around the NHL. Sergei Bobrovsky earned praise from Torts and had the same number of saves (33) as Johnson. Like Bob, Frederik Andersen only allowed one goal while making 38 stops.

Chad Johnson is the only goalie who earned a shutout on Friday, though.

Considering Jake Allen‘s substantial struggles, the Blues might want to lean on Johnson for a while, as the journeyman goalie has – on occasion – shown that he can carry a team in net at times during certain stretches. The Blues have been able to occasionally create a really nurturing atmosphere for hot-and-cold goalies (like Brian Elliott, Johnson’s creasemate from last season), so perhaps Johnson could go on a mini-run? If nothing else, this was a nice win, especially if Mike Yeo is in any way looking over his shoulder at Joel Quenneville.

In other Blues news, Ryan O'Reilly is on a nine-game point streak.

Highlights

It didn’t translate to a goal, but this bit of Scheifele wizardry was magical:

Speaking of magical, Nick Foligno‘s beautiful pass to Oliver Bjorkstrand played a trick on three Capitals opponents:

Andreas Athanasiou ranks as one of Friday’s honorable mentions, scoring the goal that sent Detroit’s game against the Rangers into OT, then setting up Dylan Larkin for this OT game-winner:

Lowlight

Here’s hoping referee Brad Meier is feeling OK after this uncomfortable fall:

Factoids

Wheeler’s 400th assist wasn’t the only milestone from Friday. Patrick Marleau didn’t do a whole lot for it (Nazem Kadri ended up batting down a puck for a nice goal), but most of his 600 career assists have surely been impressive. (These two assist milestones explain the big apples part of this post’s headline, in case that wasn’t clear.)

Kinda cool to see his old buddy Joe Thornton on this list with him:

Chad Johnson’s enjoyed some nice peak moments in the NHL, but it’s been a while since he’s enjoyed a night like Friday.

Rarely a bad time to see your name next to Wayne Gretzky’s, eh, Blake Wheeler?

Scores

TOR 6 – NJD 1
CBJ 2 – WSH 1
DET 3 – NYR 2 (OT)
STL 4 – SJS 0
WPG 5 – COL 2
MIN 5 – ANA 1

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

The Buzzer: Stone puts up a five-spot; O’Reilly cashes in first-career hat trick

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By Scott BilleckNov 7, 2018, 1:30 AM EST
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Three Stars

1. Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators

Stone had to face the music on Tuesday morning for an incident he wasn’t even a part of. By the end of the night, Stone had displayed his leadership qualities both on and off the ice after recording a five-point night as the Senators took it to the New Jersey Devils in a 7-3 thumping. The Senators forward has six goals and 12 assists in 15 games now this season.

2. Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues

Normally, a first-career hat trick would be sufficient enough for the top star, but given what Ottawa has gone through over the past 24 hours, and the way Stone played, O’Reilly’s three-goal game comes in a close second. The hatty helped the Blues get back to winning ways. O’Reilly now has seven goals and 19 points in 16 games in his first season in St. Louis.

3. Marcus Sorensen, San Jose Sharks

Sorensen had one goal and two assists to help the Sharks to a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks have won two straight and have points in eight of their past 10 games.

Other notable performances: 

  • Thomas Chabot was in that now infamous Uber ride taken by the Ottawa Senators. He didn’t speak before the game but continued his torrid pace with another goal (his fourth) and two more assists (his 15th and 16th). Chabot is the top scoring defenseman in the NHL right now.
  • Robby Fabbri scored his first goal of the season and first in 23 months. Injuries have played Fabbri during that time.
  • Chad Johnson got the nod for the Blues against the shot-happy Hurricanes. He made 38-of-39 saves.
  • Ilya Kovalchuk has a goal and two assists to help the Kings to a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks in Willie Desjardins first game in as the bench boss in L.A.
  • Freddie Andersen made 36 saves (seven on the power play) in a 3-1 win for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Vegas Golden Knights.
  • Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov each produced three-point nights as the Lightning trounced the Edmonton Oilers 5-2.
  • Jimmy Howard stopped 40 pucks for the Red Wings in regulation and overtime and stopped all three shooters in he faced in the shootout in a 3-2 Detroit win over Vancouver.

Highlights of the Night

Robby Fabbri’s first goal in 23 months. Welcome back.

Elias Pettersson has it all:

He Pionk’d on ’em:

Nice outlet pass:

Factoids

Scores

Maple Leafs 3, Golden Knights 1

Rangers 5, Canadiens 3

Blue Jackets 4, Stars 1

Senators 7, Devils 3

Red Wings 3, Canucks 2 (SO)

Lightning 5, Oilers 2

Blues 4, Hurricanes 1

Sharks 4, Wild 3

Kings 4, Ducks 1

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

Jake Allen needs to be better, but so do Blues

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By Scott BilleckOct 7, 2018, 12:54 PM EST

There are few scenarios where Jake Allen‘s start to the 2018-19 NHL season could have gone much worse.

Allen has been slaughtered through two games, allowing 10 goals on 55 shots for a .818 save percentage and a whopping 4.91 goals-against average. Those aren’t NHL numbers. Hell, they aren’t AHL numbers either, or ECHL for that matter. Beer league goalies are stopping more pucks.

Getting the Bronx cheer in the first game of the regular season may seem harsh, but it’s not as if Blues fans are really overreacting.

Fans don’t forget and while Allen’s 2017-18 season was forgettable, it was unforgettable to fans who are keenly aware that he’s carrying a $4.35M cap hit over the next three seasons and hasn’t lived up to that kind of dough yet.

Against the Winnipeg Jets to open their season, some of the goals that found their way past Allen weren’t necessarily his fault. Allowing a breakaway on the power play was a breakdown out of Allen’s control. Allowing Kyle Connor to latch onto a puck out of the penalty box and then pass to Blake Wheeler, who wasn’t really defended, wasn’t Allen’s fault. Not stopping a Patrik Laine blast on the power play that was deflected by his own defender? Yeah, not Allen’s fault.

One could make the argument that the Winnipeg game was less on Allen and more on St. Louis as a whole. Allen played well for the first two periods and then the wheels on the Blues bus fell off in the third. The Blues allowed 13 high-danger scoring chances in the game. Winnipeg took advantage. C’est la vie.

Saturday’s game was a little different in that regard. St. Louis tightened up a bit defensively and didn’t allow as many good looks on Allen. Still, there were breakdowns and Allen became the victim.

The Blues spotted Allen a 2-0 lead, one that was relinquished. They then fought to get back a 4-3 lead after falling behind 3-2. That also wouldn’t last. Then a Jonathan Toews breakaway sealed the deal in overtime.

Allen’s numbers need to improve, one way or another. He’s 60 percent on high-danger shots through two games and 85 percent on medium ones. His 5-on-5 save percentage is .844. These aren’t good numbers. It’s a very small sample size, but you can see where improvements need to be made.

Odd-man rush or not, that’s a juicy rebound. Too juicy.

For what it’s worth, Blues coach Mike Yeo wasn’t pinning the blame on Allen after Saturday’s loss.

[Under Pressure: Jake Allen]

“We start playing. That’s it, right now,” Yeo said via NHL.com. “Let’s quit playing shinny hockey and let’s start playing real hockey. It’s correctable. It’s just a matter of us figuring out how long we want it to take before we decide if we want to be a good team or be a team that plays the game without purpose and as far as doing the little things and things it takes to win hockey games.”

That truth of the matter here is Allen is going to take the brunt of the blame at the moment. His poor year last season didn’t do him any favors, and an outsider looking at St. Louis’ first two games would suggest that the goalie needs to stop the puck a little more.

The Blues need Allen to stop the pucks he should and some of those that are high-percentage goals most of the time. St. Louis went out and tried to bolster their team during the offseason, but at the end of the day, if goals keep going in, it won’t matter how many improvements they made in front of Allen.

At this point, both Allen and the Blues need to be better. St. Louis has converted on just two of their 16 high-danger chances this season.

Time will tell if one or the other emerges as the real problem. In the meantime, you’d have to imagine that Chad Johnson, who was acquired in the offseason to play second fiddle to Allen, sees some time going forward.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck