ST. LOUIS -- The Blackhawks will turn to Antti Niemi to help snap their first three-game losing streak of the season against the Blues on Saturday night at Scottrade Center.
Niemi, who was battling what is believed to be the flu last week and served as Cristobal Huet's backup during the Hawks' 2-1 shootout loss to the Coyotes on Friday night, is making his first appearance since Jan. 23 against the Sharks. In that game, Niemi was started consecutive games for the first time this season and way yanked after yielding three first-period goals as the Hawks eventually fell 5-1 in San Jose.
Winger Ben Eager is not on the ice for pregame warmups and will likely be a scratch with Tomas Kopecky returning after being a scratch against the Coyotes.
It will be interesting to see how the Hawks handle some rare adversity after their first extended skid of 2009-10.
"All year long things have been rather smooth and now it's a good test for us to try and recapture some momentum here and find out what it's like to win," coach Joel Quenneville said. "It will be a challenging game."
Chris Mason will be in goal for the Blues. He was in net when the Blues topped the Hawks 3-2 at the United Center.
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