Blues blown out 7-3 by Blackhawks as three-game win streak eludes them again

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jan 8, 2026

Published in Hockey

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The three-game win streak will have to wait yet again.

With a 7-3 loss to the Blackhawks on Wednesday night, the Blues squandered another chance for their first three-game win streak of the season. They remain one of two teams in the NHL that have not won three straight games, one season after they were the last team to do so in 2024-25.

Jordan Binnington allowed seven goals, one start after his first shutout of the season in a win over Montreal. Tyler Tucker, Otto Stenberg and Nathan Walker scored for St. Louis.

Seven different players scored for the Blackhawks.

It was the 15th time this season that the Blues lost by at least three goals. There were 11 teams that entered Wednesday with less than 15 regulation losses this season.

The Blues will visit Utah on Friday before finishing the road trip in Vegas on Saturday night.

Bang, bang, bang

The Blackhawks turned a 1-1 game into a 5-2 lead at second intermission thanks to a flurry of goals. Chicago scored four times in 9:43, and Stenberg even scored his first career goal in the middle of that span.

Oliver Moore scored a power-play goal at 7:41 to give the Blackhawks their first lead of the game, but Stenberg followed 41 seconds later to tie the game at 2. Stenberg stole a puck deep in the Chicago zone, then slipped a shot past Spencer Knight's ear for his first career NHL goal.

Stenberg, 20, was a first-round pick by the Blues in 2023.

From there, it was all Blackhawks.

Connor Murphy's blast 35 seconds after Stenberg's goal regained the Blackhawks lead, then Landon Slaggert (12:27) and Jason Dickinson (17:24) each found the back of the net on deflections at the net-front.

For as poor as the Blues have been in the second period this season, this was just the third time that they allowed four goals in the middle frame. It was the fourth time this season they were outscored by three goals or more in the second period, and the second time by the Blackhawks.

Starting fast

The game actually started well for the Blues as Tucker scored 27 seconds into the game to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. It was the quickest goal of the season for the Blues, beating the previous best of 42 seconds by Brayden Schenn at the Islanders on Nov. 22.

Tucker dumped the puck into the corner on the first shift of the game, then followed it to establish a forecheck. After Jimmy Snuggerud helped stall the puck in the corner, Schenn possessed it and found an open Tucker driving to the net.

It was Tucker's second goal of the season.

In their 44 games, the Blues have actually scored first 28 times. They have lost a league-high 13 times when scoring first (six times in regulation, seven times in overtime or a shootout).

Nick Lardis scored about halfway through the first period on the power play after Moore's seam pass from circle to circle to tie the game at 1. Lardis' goal came after the Blues wasted back-to-back power plays early in the first, as St. Louis had 3:48 of a continuous power play, including 12 seconds of a 5 on 3.

Walker back

Blues foward Nathan Walker returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing more than five weeks with an upper-body injury. He was expected to be out eight weeks, the Blues initially announced.

Walker scored his fourth goal of the season in the third period, swatting a puck out of midair with 6:41 remaining in the game.

With Walker healthy and Oskar Sundqvist back in the lineup, Robby Fabbri and Mathieu Joseph were scratched for the Blues.

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