Follow me on twitter Follow @stlgoalie *****UPDATE***** The Blues were sad to announce that Arianna Dougan passed away today. Blues fans likely just know her as Ari or maybe the young girl with the rainbow coat or maybe they actually know her from around town. From everyone that I have spoken with who knew her, they all talk about strong she was, how happy she was in the face of such adversity and long odd, and the resolve she had to enjoy every day on this earth.
On Thursday night, the Blues got a 3-2 shootout overtime win against the worst team in the NHL, the Arizona Coyotes. The game was Carter Hutton’s first home start of the season.
As has been a trend this season, the Blues got goals from two defensemen, Joel Edmundson and Alex Pietrangelo. Edmundson now has 5 goals on the season while Pietrangelo has 7. Last year, only Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk had more than 4 and Pietrangelo is already half the way to his previous year’s team high of 14.
Colton Parayko led the team in shots. In what should surprise no one, Kyle Brodziak, Chris Thorburn (assist not withstanding), and Scottie Upshall had the worst adjusted corsi of all Blues forwards.
The Blues outshot the Coyotes 38-29, won more faceoffs, blocked more shots, and threw more hits. The Coyotes converted on 1 of their 3 power plays, unlike the Blues and had one less giveaway. Brendan Perlini scored both goals for the Coyotes.
The Blues will be well rested when they face the New York Islanders tonight. The Islanders may be a bit jet lagged after playing in a late start (7:30pm CST) game in Dallas where they were soundly beat 5-0 and only generated 14 shots and their best players struggled. John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Nick Leddy and Anders Lee were a combied -11.
Tavares and Bailey both have 18 points in 16 games with Tavares having a team high 12 goals. Lee and Matthew Barzal are close to a point per game with 15 and 14 points, respectively, in 16 games. Leddy leads the defensemen with 10 points.
Given that Halak played last night, it looks like he will avoid playing in St. Louis yet again. Expect to see Thomas Greiss in net. Greiss has been good against the Blues with a 5-2-1 record, a 2.29 goals against average and a 92.2% save percentage.
Tavares only has 8 points in 13 games against the Blues, well below his points per game average. Nick Leddy is averaging around a half a point per game against the Blues, well above his career average.
The Islanders are 6th in the league, scoring 3.38 goals per game even though they are only 24th in shots per game. They are 23rd in goals against per game even though they are 16th in shots against per game. They rank 12th on the power play and 13th on the penalty kill both of which are better than the Blues.
The Islanders do not have a regulation defeat at home but are only 3-6 on the road, losing their last 2 road games and 3 of their last 4.
For the Blues, Jake Allen will get the start. Allen has struggled against the Islanders with a 3.26 goals against average and a 89.9% save percentage.
Vladimir Tarasenko leads the way against the Islanders with 7 goals and 10 points in 9 games. Alexander Steen is next with 21 points in 21 games with Paul Stastny adding 10 points in 13 games. Pietrangelo will be looking for his 1st goal against the Islanders.
I expect the lineup to look like this tonight:
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 Carl Gunnarsson - Alex Pietrangelo Joel Edmundson - Colton Parayko Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo
Goalie Jake Allen
Allen will be wearing a special military mask that will later be auctioned off for charity.
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.