Game Preview: February 16- St. Louis Blues vs New York Islanders
St. Louis Blues
vs
New York Islanders
at
Scottrade Center
Game Time 7:00pm CST
Blues Game Day Info: After a dissapointing game in Columbus, the Blues are back in action tonight at home. The Blues dropped 2-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday, proving that even bad teams have good games. Tonight, the Blues will be gaining 2 players: Kent Huskins and Jason Arnott will both be back in action tonight. Tonight will be Huskins’ first game since fracturing his ankle on October 28. Arnott, who currently has 24 points in 49 games, is returning from a shoulder injury on February 3. Perhaps the Blues offense will get a jump start with Arnott back in action. Lou Korac reported this morning that Alex Steen is back on the ice; hopefully ice time means that Steen is starting to move foward from his concussion. Matt D’Agostini is still on IR with concussion symptoms. In yesterday’s practice, Carlo Colaiacovo injured his wrist. The injury is not reported to be severe, but Colaiacovo will be out for tonight’s game. Yesterday, the Blues shipped Ian Cole and Evgeny Grachev back to Peoria. The team had to make some room for Huskins and Arnott to return.
In other Blues News, Chris Stewart has been moved to the 4th line during practice (check out this link for all the details from Jeremy Rutherford). Not surprising, since Ken Hitchcock seems to reward those who are excelling. Stewart needs to step up his game. So far, Stewart only has 22 points in 23 games; this performance is definitely not what fans expected to see after the powerhouse Stewart appeared to be when he arrived in St. Louis last season. The Blues will need to play with energy and some determination if they expect to win tonight. Last night’s game showed just how lost the team can be at times.
Islanders Game Day Info: The Islanders are in St. Louis on their second game on the road this week. They won on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, and are looking to repeat their performance in St. Louis. The Islanders have won their last three road games. The Islanders are currently dealing with their own rash of injuries. Lou Korac reports that the following players are currently injured for the Islanders: G Rick DiPietro (sports hernia/knee), D Travis Hamonic (nose/face), D Mark Katic (shoulder), D Mike Mottau (concussion) and D Dylan Reese (MCL sprain).
Lineups (Per Lou Korac):
Blues Starting Line Up:
Fowards:
Perron – Backes – Oshie
McDonald – Berglund – Langenbrunner
Sobotka – Arnott – Crombeen
Porter – Nichol – Stewart
Defensemen Pairings:
Jackman – Shattenkirk
Huskins – Pietrangelo
Russell- Polak
Starting Goal Tender: Brian Elliott
Islanders Starting Line Up:
Forwards:
Moulson – Tavares – Okposo
Grabner – Nielsen – Parenteau
Rolston – Bailery- Martin
Pandolfo – Reasoner – Niederreiter
Defensemen Pairings:
Streit – Staios
Eaton – Jurcina
Ness – MacDonald
Starting Goal Tender: Evgeni Nabokov
