St. Louis Blues vs. Carolina Hurricanes: Game Preview

The St. Louis Blues play their first in a series of three sets of back-to-back games over the next month on Friday night, heading to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

At 17-25-5, Carolina is currently in last place in the NHL Metropolitan Division. They showed earlier this month that they should not be taken lightly, however, as the Blues narrowly defeated them 5-4 in a shootout, recovering from a disastrous first period in which Brian Elliott gave up three goals within the game’s first 13 minutes. It will be especially important for the Blues to stay mentally strong on Friday night, as they’ll be physically exhausted from playing to a shootout on Thursday night and then traveling during the early morning to North Carolina.

More from St. Louis Blues

• An early projection of the St. Louis Blues’ opening-night roster
• St. Louis Blues sign Klim Kostin to three-year, entry-level contract
• St. Louis Blues: Nail Yakupov signs with Colorado Avalanche
• St. Louis Blues: An homage to Chris Butler
• St. Louis Blues agree to one-year contract with Oskar Sundqvist

The Blues will have their most significant lineup alteration in a while on Friday night, as forwards Jori Lehtera and Patrik Berglund will both miss the game with injuries that they sustained in Thursday night’s contest. That means that Joakim Lindstrom will get into the lineup for the third time during January, and another player will have to be called up from the AHL Chicago Wolves in order to fill a spot on Friday. Candidates for that promotion could include Colin Fraser, Ty Rattie, Pat Cannone, and Phil McRae.

If Fraser is recalled, he’ll likely be plugged in on the fourth line, with Steve Ott or Marcel Goc moving up to one of the scoring lines. Otherwise, the new addition will probably end up among the top nine forwards, with Lindstrom or Jaden Schwartz shifting to center.

Though there’s not an obvious candidate to be taken out, Friday night’s game might be a good opportunity to get some action for defenseman Chris Butler, who has not played in a game since the Blues’ last meeting with Carolina on January 10. Jake Allen will get the start in goal against Carolina.

Next: Blues Will be Without Berglund, Lehtera Against Carolina