The St. Louis Blues are in Arizona to battle Shane Doan and the Arizona Coyotes for the first time this season. Also for the first time this season, Jake Allen gets the start in goal.
It's uncertain who will be between the pipes for the Coyotes, but it very well could be Devan Dubnyk. Mike Smith has let in ten goals in his last two starts, while Dubnyk was solid in his Coyotes debut.
Jeremy Rutherford tweeted out today that the Blues have recalled Petteri Lindbohm from the Chicago Wolves.
#stlblues have recalled Petteri Lindbohm.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 18, 2014Lindbohm has played three games with the Chicago Wolves. He has a goal, an assist and plus-3 rating. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 18, 2014With back-to-back games, Lindbohm is being called up as a precaution. However, there is a chance he will play Sunday against Anaheim.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 18, 2014The Blues are coming into tonight's game after a dominating performance by the Blues against the Kings. However, both Brian Elliott and Jonathan Quick were perfect in the game, and the Blues lost 1-0 in the shootout. It was the first real showing of the Blues new offensive skill.
This current team is no longer the big bruising team it has been in prior seasons. Speed and skill triumph over physicality and the team showed Thursday against the Kings, that if they are on their game, they can dominant with their puck control.
Joakim Lindstrom has had a solid transition back to the NHL, and has found himself a solid addition to the Blues top nine. He's spent most of his time with Paul Stastny and Alexander Steen, and hasn't looked out of place. His speed and creativity with the puck has helped him keep up in a scoring role.
Check out the Blues Q&A session with him, so you can get to know him a little better. You can find that link, here
St. Louis native Joe Vitale will be in the line up for the Coyotes tonight. Vitale joined the Coyotes as a free agent this off-season after spending the last six seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has one assist in just three games thus far this season.
Former Blues forward B.J. Crombeen is not going to play tonight as well. Crombeen was traded to Tampa a few years back, and was dealt to Arizona, along with Sam Gagner, for a 6th round pick.
I want to personally apologize for the lack of articles lately, I've been dealing with some family matters and have been preoccupied by other things. I am back now though.
For any questions, you can email me at randallritchey@gmail.com or follow me on twitter @randallritchey.