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Blues look to end their 2 game losing streak in Edmonton

November 16, 2017, 2:36 PM ET [18 Comments]
Jason Millen
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Tonight the Blues will look to end their second 2 game losing streak of the season as they visit Connor McDavid’s Oilers in Edmonton at 8pm CST. The Oilers have struggled this season, earning only 44% of their possible points, the 4th worst rate in the NHL. Their homer record also is poor at 4-6.

Their poor record is mostly due to a lack of goal scoring where they sit 27th in the league. Their goals against is near the middle of the road at 16th. Their lack of scoring isn’t from a shortage of shots as they average 35.5 per game, 3rd in the NHL. They have the 2nd worst shooting percentage, only besting the Montreal Canadiens. Their penalty kill is the 3rd worst in the league, stopping only 73.3%.

Connor McDavid has 9 goals and 22 points in 18 games while Leon Draisaitl has 5 goals and 14 points in 14 games. Their leading defenseman is Oscar Klefbom who only has 6 points in 18 games.

Cam Talbot will likely get the start in net. His numbers against the Blues mirror his career averages. McDavid on the other hand, has been worse against the Blues, only averaging a point a game vs his 1.17 career average. Ryan Nugent Hopkins has been strong against the Blues, well above his career average with 13 points in 16 games. The game will be the 1st of Michael Cammalleri in an Oilers sweater.

Here is my guess at the Oilers lines:

Forwards
Maroon - McDavid - Draisaitl
Lucic - Hopkins - Puljujarvi
Cammalleri - Strome - Pakarinen
Caggiula - Letestu - Kassian

Defense
Klefbom - Benning
Nurse - Larsson
Auvitu - Russell

Goalie
Talbot

The Blues are not calling up anyone for tonight’s game, leaving the current roster at 21 with only Nate Prosser being a healthy scratch. I wonder if this means Patrik Berglud is getting a lot closer to being ready. Will be see him on the next home stand perhaps? Maybe, maybe not but it’s something to keep a casual eye on.

Unfortunately for the Blues, I’m not sure the Oilers would be the choice of opposition to try and get Jake Allen back on his game after two sub 83.5% save percentage showing and 3 of his last 4 being sub 87.5%. Allen has been poor in his 6 games against the Oilers, posting a paltry 84.7% save percentage (2nd worst opponent) and a 3.12 goals against average.

For the Blues, Vladimir Tarasenko has been good against the Oilers contributing 7 goals and 12 points in 14 games while Jaden Schwartz has added 6 goals and 13 points in 15 games. On defense, Alex Pietrangelo has 16 points in 23 games.

Based on the morning skate, expect your Blues lines to start like this:

Forwards
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Sobotka – Paul Stastny - Alexander Steen
Magnus Paajarvi – Oskar Sundqvist – Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak – Chris Thorburn

Defense
Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson - Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo

Goalie
Jake Allen

As I shared last night, both Klim Kostin and Ville Husso were injured in the San Antonio Rampage game last night. There have not been any updates on either player as of yet.

It’s a great day for hockey.

Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers Nashville Predator's Paul McCann, Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others will donate in their name.
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