Blackhawks at Blues Preview: Last place Hawks still fighting for a wild-card spot

The Chicago Blackhawks should send the league’s three California teams a fruit basket. While the Hawks are dead last in the Central Division with 62 points, San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles are bringing up the rear in the Western Conference. This serves the purpose of making the Blackhawks, with their 62 points, look not as bad as they are. They’re smack in the middle. They’re perfectly cromulent.

With .500 records at home and away and just a -15 goal differential, you can be forgiven if you think the Hawks can somehow start a hot streak and make up the eight points between them and the second wild-card slotted Arizona Coyotes. Any team can start up a hot streak after a stretch of poor play - ask the Blues - but the Hawks are mired in a 2-6-2 in their last ten style of funk. That is pretty tough to bounce back from when you have a team that really, honestly, don’t have anything left to fight for.

But who wants to tell them that?

Hopefully the Blues, tonight, during a national broadcast. The Blues are riding a four game winning streak right now. During that streak, they’ve only allowed two goals, and they’ve allowed more than 20 shots just once. They’re three points ahead of Colorado and four ahead of Saturday’s opponent, the Dallas Stars.

The Blues will still have to content with Patrick Kane, who has 27 goals on the season and 77 points. They’ve won both games against Chicago so far this season but to keep that streak alive they’ll have to keep an eye on Kane, Jonathan Toews, Dominik Kubalik (who has 26 goals, noted Blues killer Alex DeBrincat, and Brandon Saad. Keep those guys from the scoresheet and winning their fifth game in a row is more than doable for the Blues.