Follow me on twitter Follow @stlgoalie After defeating the Predators on Sunday in what I saw as the worst officiated game all season, the Blues have the potential to lock up 3rd place and a matchup with the Minnesota Wild tonight if they beat the Jets in any manner and the Predators fail to get any points against the Islanders. Here's to hoping that the Blues will show a lot of Islanders highlights on the Jumbotron tonight.
Jake Allen was again strong on Sunday, anchoring the team to another victory, making them 12-1-2 in their last 15 games. Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, David Perron, and Joel Edmunson all scored while Perron added two assists.
Perro's goal was of the highlight reel type, fighting off PK Subban for a number of seconds before burying a shot. It was a great individual play by a very determined player.
A few of us noticed that Dimtrij Jaskin looked a bit off in the game and were wondering if his injury still might be impacting his play or at least his psyche. It looks like Lehtera will replace him in the lineup while Bortuzzo, Gunnarsson, and Yakupov are all out. Gunnarsson is reported to be close to getting back in.
My best guess at the lineup looks like this: Schwartz – Steen – Tarasenko Paajarvi – Berglund - Perron Lehtera – Barbashev – Sanford Upshall – Brodziak – Reaves Bouwmeester – Pietrangelo Edmundson - Parayko Lindbohm – Schmaltz Allen
In other news, the Blues assigned 2016 2nd round draft pick Jordan Kyrou to the Chicago Wolves.
Expect Michael Hutchinson to get the start in net for the Jets tonight.
Avangard and Vladimir Sobotka mutually agreed to terminate his contract a few weeks early but I wouldn't necessarily conclude that as a sign he is coming across the ocean.
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 donate in their name.