The battle for West supremacy is on tonight in the NHL
Eight days into the NHL season, it might not be too early to say tonight's game between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks (8 ET, NBC Sports Network) will establish a front-runner in the Western Conference race.
'These teams dislike each other a ton, and that makes for hard and intense hockey,' NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said. 'While it is early, you can never plant a seed early enough.'
Last season, the Blackhawks were 3-1-1 against the Blues. But the Blues picked up Derek Roy and Brenden Morrow as free agents, and their younger players are theoretically older and wiser. They might have narrowed the gap against the Blackhawks, even though Chicago won two Stanley Cup championships in the last four seasons.
'Each and every time Chicago and St. Louis play, it will be like a Game 7,' McGuire said.
How the teams stack up:
Overall: The Blues are tougher to play against, while the Blackhawks have more offensive might.
Coaching: The Blues' Ken Hitchcock has instilled a tough defensive mindset in his team. Chicago's Joel Quenneville likes to use team speed to pressure the opponent.
Defense: The Blackhawks, led by Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, were statistically the league's top defensive team last season. But the Blues might have the league's deepest collection of defensemen. The Blues' top six are Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Kevin Shattenkirk, Roman Polak, Barret Jackman and Jordan Leopold. The Blackhawks have Keith, Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Johnny Oduya, Nick Leddy and Michal Rozsival.
Forwards: With Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane leading the way, the Blackhawks have a more dynamic offense. But the Blues, led by David Backes, have a big, strong, defensive-minded group of forwards. Both teams are very comfortable playing in one-goal games.
Goaltending: Chicago's Corey Crawford established his reputation by leading the Blackhawks to an NHL title. Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak pulled off a couple big upsets while with the Montreal Canadiens, but he still must prove he can carry a team all the way through the postseason.
Our prediction: 3-2 Blues
U.S. goalie showdown II?
There's another potential U.S. Olympic goalie showdown when the Ottawa Senators visit the Los Angeles Kings.
Earlier this season, the Senators' Craig Anderson topped Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller 1-0.
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, the preseason front-runner for the No. 1 U.S. spot in Sochi, hasn't had the best of starts.
Hertl hoopla
Lots of buzz continuing over last night's four-goal performance by Tomas Hertl, who's the front-runner for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
(Thanks to Reddit for the GIF.)'OK, that just about wraps it. See ya in 2015, everyone!' - Calder Trophy, in an exclusive interview to Sport-Express, just now #Hertl
- Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) October 9, 2013
Your games tonight Chicago at St. Louis, 8 Montreal at Calgary, 8 Ottawa at Los Angeles, 10:30 Follow the rest of USA TODAY Sports' in-depth NHL coverage at nhl.usatoday.com
Contributing: Mike Brehm, USA TODAY Sports
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