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The St. Louis Blues travel to Nashville for a Saturday night showdown in final half of a back to back set. It will be the second time the Blues have taken on the Preadators and their second double dip set of the season.
The first of each had very different outcomes.
In their home opener St. Louis routed Nashville 4-2 in a decisive victory. A week and a day ago they fell to the Winnipeg Jets in the shootout the night after beating Chicago.
Will the Blues continue their streak of success against their long time opponent (6-1-0 in their last seven games) or fail to finish as they did against one of their newest?
The answer likely comes down to goaltending.
Jaroslav Halak went the distance against Vancouver and needed as much WD-40 as expected after a week off. With Pekka Rinne on the shelf for a month Barry Trotz turns to the relatively inexperienced Carter Hutton.
Halak is 9-3-3 with a 1.75 GAA, .930 save %, and four shutouts to his credit against the Preds. Hutton allowed just one goal on 22 shots against in relief of Rinne back on October 3rd. Since then he's continued providing strong performances against the Jets allowing three goals on 75 shots stretched out over 124+ minutes in two games.
It will be up to the Blues forwards to solve the Hutton puzzle as they solved Rinne's to start the season. The rest is on Halak to return to form.
Don't be surprised if this game goes down to the wire as have the last two. Ken Hitchcock fully expects his squad to come out with all guns firing and engage from the first puck drop.
"We're not going to come close to winning if we don't get engaged at the start. Hopefully (the Vancouver loss) is a good wake-up call. We're back in the league and playing and we can really get engaged from the start to the end."
Just emphasis on the beginning of the game could lead the Blues down the path of sloppiness as the game progresses. Trotz will want to use his clubs speed and physical, suffocating playstyle to not only match the Blues', but counter and push back. As the minutes pile up legs may become so fatigued that the mind can't keep up. Trouble usually pops up shortly there after.
It's games like these that the superior conditioning of the top players will be tested. David Backes' line and the top pairing of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester logged between 23 and 25 minutes of ice time individually. They will be equally relied upon again Saturday.
The new look Patrik Berglund line that features Jaden Schwartz and Chris Stewart were on point against the Canucks. They will need to pick up where they left off to spell Backes, et al.
Jeremy Rutherford projects Valdimir Sobotka to replace Derek Roy on the "second line" line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Magnus Paajarvi. That move may not last long if the score is tilted in favor of the home team early. To start Roy would potentially center the fourth line with Brenden Morrow and Ryan Reaves.
The altered defensive pairs are likely to remain the same. That would mean Barret Jackman will be with Kevin Shattenkirk and Jordan Leopold skates to Roman Polak's left.
Speaking of Romans... Nashville's Roman Josi is still out with a concussion, but is participating in non-contract drills. Maxim Lapierre is out missing his fourth contest in a five game suspension. Ian Cole and Adam Cracknell are presumed to be healthy scratches.
What to Watch For
-- Nashville's ability to finish. So far this season they are one of the most offensively incompetent clubs. Not all that shocking, but seeing it in numbers really makes it sink in. They are 25th overall in Goals Scored per 60 of 5 on 5 Close at 1.52 and their ES Shooting % sits at the same position at 5.1%. In laymen's terms they aren't likely to score many goals while the personnel is five a side and the spread on the scoreboard is within two goals. Bucking that trend is a major blow to the Blues' chances of winning. Conversely the once hot Blues have slipped in that regard and are now in the bottom half with a GF/60 of 2.23 (17th) and Sh% of 7.6% (18th).
-- The play of Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis. Through nine games he has been on the ice for five 5 on 5 goals for and only one against. His offensive skills and tool set will be aid in countering the Blues' forward pressure.
-- The Seth Jones & Shea Weber pair for all the obvious "No Sh!t" reasons you can come up with.
-- Success against David Legwand. Though he is tied with Craig Smith for the team lead in points with seven he has not meet much success overall. He's been on the ice for a team high nine 5 on 5 goals against and a low 44.6% CF%. His numbers were slightly better in game one, 50% CF% (8 CF vs 8 CA) and an ES goal for, but he saw Backes and his crew more than anyone else and they took care of business against him. If it happens again the outcome won't likely be different.
Pick the Goal Scorer
Get your guesses in for the Pick the Goal Scorer contest.
It's simple to play. Just post your guess for who scores the first goal for the Blues tonight in the comments before puck drop. Correct guesses will be totaled throughout the season and the the person(s) with the most correct will win a Blues themed prize.
Thanks for reading!
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