Detroit Red Wings
(4-4-1)
vs
St. Louis Blues
(6-3-0)
at
Scottrade Center
Game Time 7:00 PM
St. Louis, MO: Tonight the Blues face the Detroit Red Wings. In their last meeting, the Wings got back to true form and face stomped the Blues at the Joe 5-2. Henrik Zetterberg had a hat trick in the game, a game in which the Blues did not show up to play. Fast forward to a few nights later and the Predators came to town calling on the Blues after losing the first two meetings of the season to St. Louis. The Preds were at the end of a long road trip and should have been the tired team. What took place at the Scottrade Center was undoubtedly the worst hockey game the Blues have played in a very, very long time. The not got lit up for 6 goals; 6 goals from a team that averages less than 1.6 goals per game. It was astounding to see just how poorly the team performed. Hopefully tonight, after a few days off, the Blues can shake off the funk and get back to playing the style of hockey they are known for.
The Blues will look to shake up the lines tonight as Tarasenko with be paired up with Berglund and Schwartz. It is unknown if the Backes line will remain the same or if they too will get split up. I fully expect to see a lot of pressure on Detroit tonight from the Blues. St. Louis will not show up flat-footed three nights in a row. If they do, oh boy Blues fans… I am not sure what I will think if that happens. One bright shining note for tonight’s game is the fact that Jimmy Howard will be sitting on the bench. In the last meeting, Howard came up big on more than one scoring opportunity allowing Detroit to take control of the game early and run away with it. Tonight Petr Mrazek will get the nod. The 20-year-old Czech native will get his first NHL action for the Wings tonight. Will he sparkle and make a ton of great saves or will he, like Jake Allen, falter and allow some silly looking goals? To credit Jake Allen he didn’t have a ton of chances to stop the pucks that went in behind him against Nashville. However, he also did not step up and make the spectacular saves that could have swung some momentum in the Blues direction and push a possible come back in the right direction.
It’s gonna be a wild and loud crowd tonight at the Scottrade Center. Get up off your feet, make some noise, and cheer our Blues on to victory over those dirty dirty… ok I will just let that one go..
Tonight’s Possible Lineup: (Per Jeremy Rutherford)
Forward Lines:
Perron-Backes-Oshie
McDonald-Steen-Stewart
Schwartz-Stewart-Tarasenko
Sobotka-Nichol-Reaves
Defensive Pairs:
Redden-Pietrangelo
Jackman- Shattenkirk
Russell-Polak
Goaltender:
Elliott