St. Louis Blues vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Preview

After a two-game East Coast road trip, the St. Louis Blues return home for one game at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday before heading back east for another two-game stand.

The Blues are making a serious push at first place in the NHL’s Central Division, as they’ve only lost one of 12 games during 2015 in regulation and with 68 points, they’re now within two points of first. At this point, the most important thing for the Blues is to make sure the first-place Nashville Predators, who are a modest 3-2-2 since goalie Pekka Rinne went down with an injury, continue to produce at a slower pace than they did at the beginning of the season.

It will be the Blues’ first meeting with the Lightning this season. Tampa leads the Atlantic Division and is the best team in the Eastern Conference with 68 points. Star scorer Steven Stamkos leads the team and is fourth in the NHL with 27 goals, though Tampa’s most productive player this season has been center Tyler Johnson, who has 49 points in 49 games.

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 teams split their season series 1-1 in 2013-14. The Blues dropped a November 24 game 4-2 in Tampa before meeting the Lightning at Scottrade on March 4 and emerging victorious, 4-2.

The Blues will be more shorthanded than they’ve been at any point in 2015, as defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk will join forwards Patrik Berglund and Jori Lehtera on the injury list. The Blues have been dealt a big blow with the loss of Shattenkirk, who will be out week-to-week after suffering an abdominal injury on Sunday that will require surgery.

Unless the Blues make a call up in advance of Tuesday’s game, they’ll be utilizing their full complement of 18 healthy skaters. Defenseman Chris Butler will get back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the previous seven games. Coach Ken Hitchcock hasn’t yet announced who will get the start in goal against Tampa, though it would be surprising if Brian Elliott was not the starter, as Thursday’s game at Buffalo or Friday’s at Columbus would seem to be more logical games for Jake Allen.

Next: Blues Lose Kevin Shattenkirk Indefinitely to Abdominal Surgery