Tonight – Game 78 of 82

Road Gm #40 – Saturday March 29, 2008 – 7:30pm – Scottrade Center

Chicago Blackhawks 36-33-8 Overall 80 pts, 11^th WEST, 3^rd Central (16-17-6, on Road)

at St. Louis Blues 31-34-12 Overall 74 pts, 14^th WEST, 5^th Central (19-14-5, at home)

Tonight the Blues and Blackhawks meet to determine supremacy in the ’07-08 installment of Battle of I-55.

With seven of eight contests in the books, the Hawks own a 4-3-0 record against the Blues this season.  Conversely, due to the NHL’s point calculation procedures, St. Louis owns a record of 3-3-1 vs. the Hawks.

Because Denis Savard opened his mouth and whined to anyone who would listen about the Blues’ alleged ‘dirty’ ways in the days following his team’s 4-3, come from behind, overtime win last Sunday, tonight is expected to be a knock-down, drag-out affair.

With five games left on the schedule, the Blackhawks must win ALL FIVE to simply give themselves a chance of earning a spot in the post season.  Chicago is 1-2 at Scottrade Center this season.

Win or lose, the Hawks will board a charter following tonight’s game and return to Chicago for a home game with Columbus tomorrow night at 6pm at United Center.  The game will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet.

Blackhawks expected line-up …….

Scratches should be… D-27-Andrei Zyuzin and C-94-Yanic Perreault…. We may have already seen Perreault’s final game as a Blackhawk.

Hawks on IR: RW-24-Martin Havlat (shoulder surgery)…. LW-55-Ben Eager (shoulder surgery)

St. Louis Blues anticipated line-up…..

Pres: John Davidson

VP/GM: Larry Pleau

Head Coach: Andy Murray

Asst Coaches: Brad Shaw, Ray Bennett

Goalie coach: Rick Wamsley

Scratches are likely to be:  RW-13-Dan Hinote – his spot figures to be sacrificed to make way for Cam Janssen, who will be needed for the rough stuff tonight….. LW-26-Martin Rucinsky…..  

Blues on injured reserve:  RW-20-Mike Johnson (shoulder surgery – out for season)….

Keith Tkachuk turned 36 yesterday.  He’s 4 goals shy of career #500.

7^th match of ’07-08 – Sunday March 23 at United Center

-- Blackhawks win 4-3, OT

-- Hawks goals:  Adam Burish (2) No seriously, Adam Burish,  Dustin Byfuglien (18), James Wisniewski (7-19:05, 3^rd gtg), Patrick Kane (18-OT, 1:09)

-- Blues goals:  Lee Stempniak (13), D.J. King (3), Keith Tkachuk (23, 3^rd per, 18:42)

-- Nikolai Khabibulin:  26 saves

-- Hannu Toivonen:  27 saves

-- Power play:  Blues 0 for 4…. Hawks 0 for 6

-- After the game, Denis Savard complains to the media about the Blues’ chippy play after the whistles, specifically on Toews and Kane.  Savard is also miffed about Backes ‘jumping’ Hjalmarsson for a fight in the first period.  (It was on the other side of the ice from another group altercation and well after the whistle, but both agreed to go at it)

-- Stars of game:  1-Patrick Kane, 2-Dustin Byfuglien, 3-Lee Stempniak

-- Fight~!  David Backes vs. Niklas Hjalmarsson – 12:30, 1^st per.

6^th match of ’07-08 – Tuesday February 19 at Scottrade Center

-- St. Louis wins 5-1

-- Hawks goal:  Martin Havlat (9) scored 1:05 into the game

-- Blues’ goals:  Barret Jackman (2), Brad Boyes (32), Lee Stempniak (11), Keith Tkachuk (19), Jay McClement (8-en)

-- Manny Legace:  19 saves

-- Patrick Lalime:  32 saves, 36 shots against

-- Power play:  Hawks 0 for 5…. Blues 3 for 6

-- Stars of game:  1-Manny Legace, 2-Keith Tkachuk, 3-EriK Johnson

-- Tkachuk and Boyes both had 7 shots on goal… Chi outhit Stl 26-22

-- Fight~!  Craig Adams vs. Dan Hinote – 0:02, 1^st period~!

5^th match of ’07-08 – Wednesday January 16 at United Center

-- Blackhawks roll 6-1

-- Hawks goals: Jack Skille (2), Rene Bourque (5), Patrick Kane (10, 11-en 14:38 3rd), Dustin Byfuglien (9), Yanic Perreault (4)

-- Blues goal: Lee Stempniak (10)

-- Leading 2-1 heading into 3^rd, Hawks score 4 unanswered

-- Power play: Hawks 1 for 4  … Blues 0 for 3

-- Blues outshoot Hawks 33-21

-- Patrick Lalime stops 15 of 16 shots in 2^nd period

-- Shots on goal: Kariya (6), Backes (4), Lang (4)

-- Blues won 69% of faceoffs

-- Fight~!  None

-- 3 stars: 1-Patrick Kane, 2-Patrick Lalime, 3-Dustin Byfuglien

-- “Mike North Night” draws 17,570 to the UC.  Just ask him.

4^th match of ’07-08 – Saturday December 1^st in St. Louis

-- Blues win 3-1

-- Chi goals: Robert Lang (7)

-- Stl goals: Lee Stempniak (3), D-wayne King (1), Mike Johnson (2)

-- Patrick Lalime:  Loss, 23 saves, 26 shots against

-- Hannu Toivonen:  Win, 17 saves, 18 shots against

-- Fight~! None

-- Power play: Blues – 0 for 4  … 0 for 2

-- Following a huge 5-goal first ten minute first period and 6-1 win against Phoenix at the UC on 11/30, the Hawks coasted through the rest of that game and failed to pick up the pace again the next night at Scottrade Center.  The Blues skated the Hawks right out of the building.  Chicago loses the first of what would become a four-game losing streak to begin the month of December.

3^rd match of ’07-08 – Friday November 9^th at United Center

-- Hawks win 4-2

-- Chi goals: Patrick Kane (6), Jim Vandermeer (1), Rene Bourque (1), Yanic Perreault-EN(1)

-- Stl goals: Steve Wagner (2), David Perron (2)

-- Patrick Lalime:  Win, 23 saves, 25 shots against

-- Manny Legace:  Loss, 27 saves, 30 shots against

-- Fight~! None

-- Power Play: Blues – 2 for 6  … Hawks – 2 for 4

2^nd match of ’07-08 – Saturday November 3^rd in St. Louis

-- Hawks win 3-2

-- Chi goals: Dustin Byfuglien (1), Patrick Sharp (4, 5)

-- Stl goals: David Perron (1), Paul Kariya (3)

-- Khabibulin:  Win, 20 saves, 22 shots against

-- Manny Legace, Loss, 19 saves, 22 shots against

-- Fight~! None

-- Power play: Blues – 0 for 5  … Hawks – 0 for 2

1^st match of ’07-08 – Wednesday October 17^th at United Center

-- St. Louis wins 3-1

-- Chi goals: Jason Williams (2)

-- Stl goals: Paul Kariya (1), Bryce Salvador (1), Keith Tkachuk (3)

-- Khabibulin:  Loss, 23 saves, 26 shots against

-- Manny Legace: Win, 28 saves, 29 shots against

-- Fight~! Jamal Mayers vs. James Wisniewski

-- Blues went 2 for 3 on the power play … Hawks 1 for 5

-- St. Louis played much bigger and outskated the Hawks throughout

Blue’ notes:

-- Keith Tkachuk is stuck on goal #496 (1,050gp, 496g, 483a, 979pts)

-- Paul Kariya’s career totals:  898gp, 381g, 545a, 926pts

-- Last night:  Blues 4 – Detroit 3, OT

-- Brad Boyes scored goal #’s 39 and 40 last night, including the GWG

-- Boyes leads the Blues with 7 GWG’s

-- The last Blues player to score 40 goals in a season: Scott Young ’00-01

-- Blues are 22-11-5 when they score the first goal

-- Four times this year have the Blues scored in the 1^st minute of a game

Blues’ goal scoring droughts:  Eric Brewer (67), Paul Kariya (21), Cam Janssen (20), Barret Jackman (18), Matt Walker (17), Jay McClement (17-vs Chi, Feb 19), Jay McKee (16), David Perron (15), Dan Hinote (10), Mike Johnson (9-vs Chi, Dec 1), Martin Rucinsky (9), Ryan Johnson (9), David Backes (6), Jamal Mayers (3), Jeff Woywitka (3), Keith Tkachuk (2), Lee Stempniak (2), D-wayne King (2-vs. Chi, Mar 23),

Hawks’ notes:

-- Andrew Ladd has four goals in 15 games as a Blackhawk

-- Dustin Byfuglien is two games shy of career 100 played (22g, 20a)

-- Byfuglien celebrated birthday number 23 on Thursday

-- Hawks’ record when they outshoot their opponent:  17-20-3

-- Hawks’ record vs. Central Division:  15-10-2

-- Hawks’ record when leading after two periods:  24-0-2

Blackhawks’ goal scoring droughts: Ben Eager (36), Kevyn Adams (27), Brent Sopel (21), Craig Adams (11), Brent Seabrook (9), Duncan Keith (5), Dave Bolland (5), Patrick Sharp (3), Rene Bourque (3), Jonathan Toews (3), Robert Lang (3), Jason Williams (3), Andrew Ladd (2), Andrei Zyuzin (3), Cam Barker (2), Martin Havlat (2), Adam Burish (1-vs Stl, last Sunday), James Wisniewski (1), Dustin Byfuglien (1), Patrick Kane (1), Yanic Perreault (1),

Head to Head:

Record in January:  Blues (4-5-3)… Hawks (4-9-1)

Record in February: Blues (5-7-3)… Hawks (7-4-2)

Record in March:    Blues (3-8-2)… Hawks (6-5-2)

Vs. Central Div:      Blues (13-12-2)… Hawks (15-10-2)

Record Last 10gp:  Blues (2-6-2)… Hawks (3-5-2)

Power Play:  Blues 30^th NHL (13.6%)… Hawks 26^th NHL (15.2%)

Penalty Kill:  Blues 7^th NHL (84.1%)… Hawks 15^th NHL (82.2%)

5 on 5:  Blues (-11) 127gf-138ga…. Hawks (+7) 136gf-129ga

Short-handed goals against:  Blues (8)… Hawks (5)

St. Louis Blues Leading Scorers

Blackhawks Leading Scorers