Blues-Blackhawks open thread

If the Kings are to receive home ice advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1992, they’re going to need some help from a Chicago Blackhawks squad leaning heavily on AHL call-ups. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Viktor Stalberg, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brandon Saad are all scratched. 27-year-old Carter Hutton will make his NHL debut in net.

For good Twitter follows, go with Jeremy Rutherford for a St. Louis perspective, and Chris Kuc and Tracey Myers for a Chicago perspective.

Projected lineups, courtesy of NHL.com’s At The Rink Blog:

Chicago Blackhawks

Bryan Bickell – Andrew Shaw – Michael Frolik
Jeremy Morin – Drew LeBlanc – Daniel Carcillo
Brandon Bollig – Brandon Pirri – Jamal Mayers
Jimmy Hayes – Ben Smith – Sheldon Brookbank

Nick Leddy – Michal Rozsival
Johnny Oduya – Ryan Stanton
Adam Clendening – Shawn Lalonde

Carter Hutton
Corey Crawford

St. Louis Blues

Jaden Schwartz – David Backes – Alexander Steen
Andy McDonald – Vladimir Sobotka – Chris Stewart
David Perron – Patrik Berglund – Vladimir Tarasenko
Adam Cracknell – Chris Porter – Ryan Reaves

Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Jordan Leopold – Kevin Shattenkirk
Kris Russell – Roman Polak

Brian Elliott
Jaroslav Halak