Game 2 of the First Round of the NHL Playoffs take place on Saturday between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on NBC. Currently the odds for the game have the Blackhawks favored at some shops while the Blues are favored at other outlets as well.

The St. Louis Blues picked up the victory in the opening game of this series in impressive fashion when Alexander Steen scored in the third overtime. The Blues have battled injuries and inconsistent play all season but managed to get a victory in Game 1. The first period in that game was wild with the Blues leading early, Chicago battling back and taking a lead midway through the period, St. Louis tying it just a minute later and Chicago getting the go-ahead tally from Patrick Kane with just under two minutes left in the period. The five combined goals might have overshadowed the rest of the game, where only the Blues scored twice. 

Blues goalie Ryan Miller was acquired via trade this season from Buffalo and St. Louis thought he could be the saving grace that leads them to a Stanley Cup. Yet, Miller struggled down the stretch this season as the Blues fell apart in the final few weeks of the season. Miller made 39 saves in the opening game of the series, including stopping 21 shots in the extra sessions.

Chicago got 48 saves from Corey Crawford in the opening game, but it wasn't enough to get the victory. That game lasted more than 100 minutes with the two teams combining for 94 shots. 

Blackhawk coach Joel Quenneville was fined $25,000 for "inappropriate conduct" after making an obscene gesture during the game. He would later apologize. Chicago has not been a good team on the road all season, going just 19-14-8 prior to losing in Game 1 at St. Louis. Both of these teams are very good at home, making this game today very important for both clubs. If Chicago is able to steal away home ice advance with a victory on Saturday, it will cause the Blues to be a bit uncomfortable heading back to the Windy City.

Both teams had their defensemen play a lot of minutes in that opening game. Conditioning at this time of year is huge but with the day off on Friday, we think both teams will have their legs under them in this contest. The Blues had a skate around Friday while Chicago didn't practice at all.

Kane and Jonathan Toews came back into the lineup after missing some games and looked great. Chicago is going to be very dangerous moving forward and we think they can get a win in today's game. The Blackhawks want to get up and down the ice and score goals. St. Louis will look to control the puck more and not give up as many shots for Chicago.

In this game today, however, we think the Blackhawks even the series and steal home ice advantage.

Free Pick: Chicago 4, St. Louis 2

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