St. Louis Blues vs. Buffalo Sabres: Game Preview
The St. Louis Blues will continue a strenuous four-game week on Thursday by beginning a quick two-game East Coast road trip against the Buffalo Sabres.
At 15-33-3, Buffalo has the worst record in the NHL, and they just snapped a 14-game losing streak and got their first win during 2015. They’ll seemingly be overmatched against the Blues, who have 70 points and sit just two points out of first place in the NHL Central Division; however, the Blues can’t take them lightly, as they’ve had difficulty putting away other bottom-dwellers, including the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars this season.
With that said, the Blues didn’t have a whole lot of trouble against Buffalo in their previous matchup this season. In a November 11 meeting at Scottrade Center, the Blues won 6-1, getting a hat trick from Jori Lehtera, two goals from Joakim Lindstrom, and another goal from David Backes.
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It’s unknown whether Patrik Berglund (shoulder) or Jori Lehtera (concussion) have any chance of returning to the lineup on Thursday night. Presumably, with the Blues being in such a tedious portion of the schedule at the moment, they won’t rush back Berglund or Lehtera before they’re actually ready.
If Berglund and Lehtera are on the shelf once again, the Blues will be utilizing all their healthy skaters, negating any drama over who will be in the lineup. With Kevin Shattenkirk out for an extended period, defenseman Chris Butler will play in consecutive games for the first time since January 8 and 10 and look to continue the progress that he made on Tuesday against Tampa, when he had an assist and three shots on goal.
Since the Blues have three games in the next four days, there’s no obvious direction to go in goal. Brian Elliott could very well get the start on Thursday, but he’ll need to rest at some point this weekend, so with Buffalo being the worst team in the league, it would be a very low-risk spot at which to insert Jake Allen into the lineup. Then again, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Blues’ Friday opponent, haven’t been too good either, so it’s difficult to go wrong either way.