St. Louis Blues (45-21-6) vs. Detroit Red Wings (38-21-11) @ 11 a.m. CST on NBC.
Season Series: This is the second and last meeting this season between the Blues and Wings. Detroit won the first meeting in St. Louis 3-2 in OT scoring the winning goal with two seconds to go in the extra period. The Blues erased a 2-0 third period deficit to steal a point last time.
Yikes....Pretty much sums up yesterdays game against the Wild. Nothing seemed to go the Blues way and it got ugly fast. You can't win a game in one period but you can sure lose one. Brian Elliott got yanked after 4 goals on 16 shots. A lot of lucky bounces went the Wild way and ended up in the Blues net. Saying that, I'm a big believer in creating your own puck luck. The Blues had a great first five minutes of the game and were strong coming out of the defensive zone and having good sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Then former Blue Chris Stewart scored on a breakaway and everything in all areas of the Blues game fell apart. That continued until it was 4-0 Wild and then a light came on for a while and two quick goals got the Blues back in. The fifth Wild goal was the back breaker and it was over.
Detroit comes into this game starting a four game home stand. They have struggled of late losing six of eight including losing Friday in Tampa Bay 3-1. The Wings have started to find their game again the last two or three games and will be pumped up to play this one. Pavel Datsyuk will miss his third in a row and that is a big loss to their game in all areas. Jimmy Howard is expected to start in goal. Keys to the Game: Yesterday is then and today is now. The Blues need to come out with a better start to the game. They haven't found the net in the first period in ages and that used to be a big factor in their success. It's going to be a fast paced playoff style hockey game. Jake Allen will be in goal for the Blues and he looks to win his second straight. Petteri Lindbohm could crack the lineup with the injury to Carl Gunnarsson yesterday. If the Blues control the puck possession and make good decisions in the defensive zone, they will be able to get the Wings to chase and it will open up scoring chances and some powerplays. With a win the blues can travel to Pittsburgh with a 3-1-1 record on this trip.
Players to Watch: Blues: Vladimir Tarasenko--easily the best Blue yesterday. Hope he gets hot again. David Backes--His game has been great of late and the numbers don't lie. The captain is trying to lead by example.
Jake Allen--important start for him. Hes looked better the last two appearances.
Wings: Jimmy Howard--if he sees it, he stops it. Henrik Zetterberg--with the absence of Datsyuk, his role becomes more magnified.
Gustav Nyquist--unbelievable skill set. I think he could become a stud top 6 forward in his career.