The St. Louis Blues will attempt to pick up their second straight win on their West Coast road trip on Tuesday night, as they face off against the Arizona Coyotes for the second time during 2014-15. In the teams’ first meeting of the season, the Blues won 6-1, although they didn’t come out of it clean, as forwardPaul Stastnysuffered a shoulder injury that caused him to miss about three weeks.
The Blues, who got their first win of 2015 on Saturday night in a 7-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks, will be looking to recover position in the Central Division standings and get back on the right track after losing six of seven games in the absence of forwardJaden Schwartz. The Blues are currently in third place, but they’re only five games out of first behind the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators, who go into Tuesday tied for first place.
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Arizona, meanwhile, is struggling this year, as they’re in sixth place in the Pacific Division and rank 13th out of 14 teams overall in the Western Conference. They have been on a bit of a roll lately, though, winning four of their past five. It’s safe to say that Arizona is lacking in the offensive department, as they have no players with more than 10 goals, and defensemanKeith Yandle(who has just four goals on the season) leads the team with a rather pedestrian 26 points.
We’ll see how the Blues arrange their lineup on Tuesday; they seemed to have plenty of success on Saturday rolling with just 11 forwards and all seven of their defensemen, although that’s a strategy that isn’t usable against all teams. Against a gritty team like Arizona that doesn’t take a bunch of chances in the offensive zone, it may be better to have fourth-line centerMaxim Lapierreback in the lineup.
If that’s the case, a defenseman (eitherChris ButlerorIan Cole) will join forwardJoakim Lindstromas a healthy scratch. GoalieMartin Brodeurwill also be scratched, asBrian Elliottwill get his second straight start in goal on Tuesday withJake Allenas his backup.
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