St. Louis Blues vs. Arizona Coyotes: Game Preview
A night after the Blues were, for all intensive purposes, fans of the Coyotes as they beat the division rival Chicago Blackhawks, they’ll be looking to beat Arizona in order to maintain their standing in the Central Division race. After finally entering into a tie for first place in the Central last week, the Blues are now back in second and are four games behind the first-place Nashville Predators.
With 28 games left in their season, Arizona is more or less playing to crash other teams’ parties. They sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division, currently 14 points out of a playoff spot. With a record that’s well under .500 and still without a 40-point player, it’s safe to say that Arizona’s taken a step back from a 2013-14 season which saw them just narrowly miss the playoffs.
It will be a homecoming for several with St. Louis ties. Goalie Mike McKenna, a St. Louis native and Parkway South high school product, was recalled by Arizona on Monday, and with Mike Smith having started in Monday’s shootout victory, McKenna has a chance to get the second game of the back-to-back and make a start against his hometown team. Unfortunately, St. Louis native Joe Vitale is dealing with an upper-body injury and won’t be able to play in St. Louis on Tuesday.
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Former Blues forward B.J. Crombeen is on Arizona’s roster, though he’s frequently a healthy scratch and has been for the Coyotes’ last two games. Forward Alexandre Bolduc, who spent last season in the Blues’ system, is also with the Coyotes and has dressed for three straight games since being recalled from the AHL last week.
The Blues’ lineup will get a jolt on Tuesday, as center Jori Lehtera is expected to return following a six-game absence as he dealt with concussion symptoms. He’ll almost certainly take the lineup spot vacated when Ty Rattie was reassigned to the AHL on Monday, though coach Ken Hitchcock could rearrange the lines so that Lehtera can get back with Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz, who he’s played with for most of this season. With that said, he’s tried to put Paul Stastny with that group on several occasions this season and has assembled that line in Lehtera’s absence, so it’s possible that Lehtera could end up with Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin on Tuesday.
Jake Allen will be in goal on Tuesday following two straight losses with Brian Elliott in net. Allen has four straight wins, though they’ve all come against bottom-dwellers (two against Carolina, one each against Edmonton and Buffalo). He gave up three goals over 31 minutes in relief of Elliott in Columbus on Friday night, but did not receive the decision.