CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks felt the repercussions of Brent Seabrooks hit on David Backes again on Sunday. Authentic Charlie Coyle Jersey . How it affects the rest of their playoff series against the St. Louis Blues remains to be seen. Seabrook was suspended for three games by the NHL on his 29th birthday for his elbow to Backes head late in the third period of St. Louis 4-3 overtime win in Game 2. Now Chicago has to dig out of a 2-0 hole without one of its best defencemen in a rocky start to its Stanley Cup title defence. "You need his size, you need his presence and experience and his leadership," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said before Seabrooks suspension was announced. "Hes got the big shot on the point and hes on our power play as well. He kills penalties, so he plays all important minutes." Seabrook received a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty after he wiped out Backes at 15:09 of the third, and the Blues used the resulting power play to score the tying goal with 6.4 seconds left in regulation on Vladimir Tarasenkos long wrist shot. Backes had to be helped off the ice and did not return. The captains status for Monday nights Game 3 is up in the air. "All I know is hes upright, and thats about it right now," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Sunday. "We dont have any further information and probably wont have until late tomorrow." Backes and Seabrook were not made available to the media on the day off, but much of the talk centred on the hit anyway. The TV broadcast picked up someone taunting Backes in the aftermath of the big blow, but it was unclear if it was coming from the ice or the crowd in the corner where the play occurred. "I saw them talking to him. It makes it a little more gutless," Blues forward Ryan Reaves said. "I dont think theres any need for that. He doesnt even know where he really is. I think if they want to start getting into that battle, we can play the same way. Well see where it takes us." Quenneville said he did not see or hear any players taunting Backes after he went down. In addition to the hit by Seabrook, Hitchcock also was upset by Bryan Bickells knee-on-knee collision with Blues centre Vladimir Sobotka in the third. He said the Blackhawks forward was involved in a similar play with defenceman Alex Pietrangelo in the first. "That part bothers me more than the hit on David, a hit that went array," Hitchcock said. "The hit on Sobotka was a continuation of what happened to Petro in the first period." Here are five things to watch in Game 3 of this increasingly testy series: HOME SWEET HOME: The Blackhawks went 11-2 at home in the playoffs last year, outscoring the Wild, Red Wings, Kings and Bruins by a combined score of 41-23. They went 27-7-7 at the United Center this season, including a 2-0-1 mark against the Blues. "You just feed off of it," Quenneville said. "Itll be exciting to get back here, get some of the positive vibes off it and look to turn this thing around." VLADIMIR THE GREAT: Tarasenko missed the last 15 games of the regular season with a broken right thumb. But the 22-year-old Russian forward caused all sorts of headaches for the Blackhawks in the first two games of the series. The speedy Tarasenko had a first-period goal in the playoff opener, and then had the tying power-play score in Saturdays victory. With Seabrook out for the next three games and Backes status in question, Tarasenko could take on a more prominent role for the rest of the series. SO MANY PENALTIES: The Blues and Blackhawks combined for 17 penalties and 61 penalty minutes in Game 2. The defending Stanley Cup champions were responsible for 11 of those penalties and 41 penalty minutes, both season highs. It looked as if the Blackhawks wanted to match the physicality of the Blues, and it took them out of their puck possession game at times. "I think a little bit we might have played into their hands, but weve got to get back to our hockey, because when were playing that way we do a good job and thats how we win," Chicago forward Brandon Saad said. BEEN HERE BEFORE: St. Louis began last years playoffs with a pair of 2-1 victories over Los Angeles at home, including an overtime win in the opener. The Blues then lost the next four games against the Kings. "We played the best game all year Game 3 in Los Angeles and lost," Hitchcock said. "This is going to be a very long series and were going to have to be better than weve been if we expect to win a game in Chicago." ABOUT THOSE GOALTENDERS: Blues goalie Ryan Miller has been solid since Chicagos three-goal first period in Game 1. He had 25 saves in Saturdays win, and all three of the Blackhawks goals came with traffic in front of the net. Corey Crawford made 48 saves for Chicago in the triple-overtime opener, but he was disappointed with his 27-save performance in Game 2. "He said he needs to be better, and he needs to be better," Quenneville said. ___ AP Sports Writer R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis contributed to this report. ___ Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Minnesota Wild Winter Classic Jerseys . - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin is now a free agent. Authentic Matt Hendricks Jersey .Y. - The New York Islanders are brimming with confidence these days, thanks to a standout goalie and a newfound winning attitude. http://www.cheapwildjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-matt-read-jersey . Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves.(SportsNetwork.com) - The St. Louis Blues have been on an impressive scoring run lately, while the Carolina Hurricanes recently turned in their best offensive performance in quite some time. Both clubs will try to keep their offenses on track Saturday, when the Blues welcome the Hurricanes for a clash at Scottrade Center. The Blues have scored a whopping 20 goals over their last three games. St. Louis has scored six or more goals in all three contests, with a 6-0 victory over Arizona coming in the middle of a pair of 7-2 decisions over the San Jose Sharks. St. Louis is coming off Thursdays rout of the visiting Sharks. Seven different players scored for the Blues in the blowout victory, and Brian Elliott stopped 24 shots for the win. Alex Steen, Jay Bouwmeester, Paul Stastny, Jori Lehtera, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and David Backes all lit the lamp for the Blues, who tied a season high for offensive output set in an identical 7-2 victory at San Jose last Saturday, Jaden Schwartz contributed three assists to the winning effort. Steen also pushed his point streak to five games and has three goals and eight assists during the run. I dont think one guy makes seven goals, said Stastny. We have four lines going well. The Blues have recorded six or more goals in three straight games for the first time since Dec. 9-15, 2000 (6-4 vs. CHI; 6-1 at CHI, 6-3 at ATL). Thursdays win opened a seven-game homestand for St. Louis, which boasts a 14-4-1 record at Scottrade Center this season. Elliott could get the start tonight and is 6-4-0 with a 2.45 goals against average in his career against Carolina. Carolina is ranked 29th in the NHL with just 2.00 goals per game, but the Hurricanes are hoping to build off a scoring barrage that helped them picked up their third win in four games. After having scored mmore than two goals only once in their previous 18 games, the Hurricanes scored three in less than 1 1/2 minutes en route to a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Authentic Jonas Brodin Jersey. It marked only the second time this season Carolina posted more than four goals, with the other occasion coming in a 6-4 win at Dallas on Nov. 18. Jiri Tlusty put Carolina up 2-1 on a 5-on-3 marker at the 13:50 mark of the second period. Less than a minute later, Eric Staal was credited with a wrap- around goal, and Victor Rask followed that up with a goal on a deflection 26 seconds later. Jeff Skinner and Riley Nash also scored for the Hurricanes, while Ryan Murphy and Justin Faulk each had two assists. Cam Ward stopped 18-of-20 shots to help Carolina win its third straight home game. Obviously, its been talked about it a lot here, the lack of offensive punch, said Staal. Tonight, we stuck with it after the first. It was pretty chippy, back-and-forth with the puck bouncing, a lot of whistles. We kind of stepped it up in the second period with some big plays and broke it open. Carolina hopes to stay hot tonight, but it could prove difficult considering the club has struggled mightily on the road this season, going 4-16-2 away from North Carolina. The Hurricanes have lost their last three away games in regulation and have dropped seven of their last eight road tilts. Staal left Thursdays game after getting shaken up in a collision, but was able to return after going through the NHLs concussion protocol. He is expected to play tonight. Ward is likely to start in net tonight. He boasts a 5-1-1 record and 1.54 GAA in seven career games against the Blues. Carolina is 3-1-1 in the last five meetings against the Blues, but St. Louis has posted victories in five of the past seven encounters on its home ice. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '