By LOU KORAC
CHICAGO -- A day after arguably the biggest win of the season that provided a huge two points and a push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blues do it all over again against a familiar foe.
Well, at least this season, a not-so-familiar foe.
The Blues (38-28-5) renew their rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks (30-34-8) at 6:30 p.m. today (NBCSN, KMOX 1120-AM) in a pivotal game again for the Blues, who are in pursuit of one of two wildcard spots in the Western Conference.
They'll have to do so without the services of right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, who sustained an upper-body injury in the 4-3 overtime win against the New York Rangers Saturday night that forced the Blues' leading scorer to miss the final two periods.
Tarasenko took an elbow to the mouth/jaw area from Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk just a half a minute into the game and could be seen on replays shaking off the affects of the impact. He finished the period but did not return for the second or third.
Tarasenko last missed a game on Dec. 31, 2015 and will break a string of 195 straight regular-season games played.
"I talked to him this morning and he was feeling pretty good, but then we realized that he wasn't going to be able to play tonight and we'll obviously turn our attention to our group that we have going here," Blues coach Mike Yeo said pregame.
Oskar Sundqvist, who's played in only three of the past 32 games, will move into the lineup for Tarasenko, who leads the Blues in goals (27) and is second in points (58).
"It's not easy to lose a guy like that," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who had two goals an the game-winning assist on Brayden Schenn's OT goal, said of Tarasenko. "We all know the impact that he has, but again, opportunity for guys to step up. I thought 'Barbs' [Ivan Barbashev] did a good job and 'Jasky' [Dmitrij Jaskin] there in the third period stepping up. Overall, all four lines played well."
The Blues had to improvise losing Tarasenko for the final 40 minutes and were able to adjust accordingly.
"Yeah obviously the chances are going to go down," Schenn said. "He's able to generate a lot of chances for himself, a lot of shots. Teams key on a guy like that. Hopefully he's OK. I don't know -- I haven't really seen him or talked to him yet -- but we're going to need him down the stretch, no doubt about it. Hopefully he's OK."
For the Blues, who trail the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks by three points in the standings (Colorado holds the first wildcard and Dallas holds the second), another two points is of utmost importance tonight.
"Yeah, absolutely, back-to-back, Chicago, it's always a tough building to play, especially when the Blues come to town," Schenn said. "I'm obviously new to it, but what you hear, they're going to play us hard. We feel we're right there. We're playing good hockey, maybe not so much in San Jose, but we felt that we got it going in Anaheim, LA, even Colorado. [Saturday] as well, we played pretty good for I would say 45 minutes of that game. So, we're going to need every point down the stretch and guys to step up.
"... The season is on the line really. We've got games in hand, we've got to grab two points every time we can here down the stretch. We know we're going to be in a battle right to the bitter end."
The Blues visit United Center for the first time this season, as amazing as that sounds. They haven't played the Blackhawks since a 5-2 win at home on Oct. 18 highlighted by a Jaden Schwartz hat trick. That's been the only meeting between the two teams this season before they play three times in the final 11 games for the Blues, 10 for Chicago, which lost 5-3 at Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.
"It's a team that could beat anybody," Pietrangelo said. "We've got to regroup here and (a) 6:30 game so a quick turnaround for us."
"Nothing changes," forward Alexander Steen said. "We have to come out with the same intensity we had in the first period [Saturday] and keep it through 60."
It had to start with Saturday, and after dominating the first period, only to have that lead slip away before rallying in the third and winning it in overtime, it was a must two points for the Blues.
"We knew how important this game was and even the little things like getting it in overtime where it counts as a regulation win, we can sit back and say it's a good night and now we get the chance to go into Chicago, against a team we know will be ready for us, and look forward to that challenge," Yeo said. " ... We need points every game. The comment there before last game and (asked) if it was a must-win game. The reality is we have to treat every game like it is a must-win right now. We're in a pretty huge fight here and we put ourselves in a position of we don't have the luxury of not approaching games that way.
"I have a pretty good feeling that with the rivalry that we have that there will be a recognition on the other side of that and I'm sure they'd love nothing more than to hurt us tonight by not allowing us to get those two points tonight."
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When Tarasenko went down, others had to step up, including fellow Russian Nikita Soshnikov, who scored his first goal of the season and first as a member of the Blues.
His bar-down quick wrister from the high slot in the second period after a drop pass from Chris Thorburn put the Blues ahead 2-1 2 minutes, 24 seconds into the period.
"I saw the room there and just went there," Soshnikov said. "It gave me some confidence for sure.
"... Guys are supporting me every day. I really appreciate it. A lot of character in this room."
Soshnikov could be called upon to be an offensive threat tonight if Tarasenko were to miss.
"I'm not going to decide it," Soshnikov said. "I'm just going to go out there and work every shift. That's all I can do.
"... For sure, everybody chipped in. As you saw, everybody played on the first line and everybody got a chance. Hopefully it's not going to be for long. It's a tough loss for sure."
Soshnikov certainly opened the eyes for Yeo.
"Maybe his best game he played for us, a lot of energy, another time where he uses his speed where he draws wide on a defenseman to draw a power play for us, that's what speed in your lineup can do for you," Yeo said. "I think he had good energy and talking to him [Saturday] morning, I think he's getting more comfortable and more engaged with our group and the success of our group and with that, the level of his play is coming up."
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Yeo had an interesting combination to start the OT on Saturday, electing to go with Kyle Brodziak, Vladimir Sobotka and Colton Parayko instead of his usual guys like Schenn, Schwartz and Pietrangelo with Tarasenko missing.
But there was a reason for it.
"'Schwartzy' and 'Schenner' were gassed, they needed a break," Yeo said. "They couldn't go out. I think those are two obvious guys you'd throw out there right off the hop. 'Brodzy' and 'Sobe,' two of our top faceoff guys, we can get the faceoff, and what you're looking to do is saw off the shift. You know they're putting their two top offensive players out there [Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider] up front, and if you can saw off that shift and then comeback with 'Schwartzy' and 'Schenner,' it worked out well."
It wouldn't have worked out well had it not been for a pivotal Jake Allen save on Kreider on the doorstep 22 seconds into the OT, a play that could very wll been overlooked by some but not by the Blues.
"It shouldn't and there were a couple other (saves) as well," Yeo said. "When we needed him the most, he was at his best tonight and so, happy for him to get that one tonight."
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Jake Allen will start in goal after facing 20 shots on the win over the Rangers on Saturday, a decision that didn't need much thought for Yeo.
"No, no it didn't, not the way he's playing," Yeo said. "Not the way that he closed out last game, so yeah, it was a pretty easy decision.
"When Jake got into a rhythm, when he got into a role last season, getting us into the playoffs, his workload really increased and he seemed to play better with that. There was a lot of times where he'd play three games in four days, back-to-back games. It became mo issue for him and hopefully this is something that we're showing the confidence in him and him gaining confidence as he's moving along here. Hopefully, that continues to build."
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Ivan Barbashev
Patrik Berglund-Kyle Brodziak-Alexander Steen
Dmitrij Jaskin-Vladimir Sobotka-Tage Thompson
Nikita Soshnikov-Oskar Sundqvist-Chris Thorburn
Carl Gunnarsson-Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn-Colton Parayko
Joel Edmundson-Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.
The healthy scratch is Jordan Schmaltz. Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body) and Carter Hutton (neck) are day-to-day, Scottie Upshall (knee) is out indefinitely, and Robby Fabbri (knee) and Jay Bouwmeester (hip) are out for the season.
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The Blackhawks' projected lineup:
Brandon Saad-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane
Matthew Highmore-Nick Schmaltz-Vinnie Hinostroza
Tomas Jurco-Artem Anisimov-Alex DeBrincat
Patrick Sharp-David Kampf-John Hayden
Duncan Keith-Jan Rutta
Erik Gustafsson-Brent Seabrook
Jordan Oesterle-Connor Murphy
J-F Berube will start in goal; Anton Forsberg will be the backup.
The Blackhawks report no healthy scratches. Anthony Duclair (upper body) and Corey Crawford (concussion) are out indefinitely.
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