St. Louis Blues Open Five-Game Homestand Saturday Against New York Islanders
St. Louis Blues Game 7/82: Saturday, October 24, 7:00 PM vs. New York Islanders
After a six-game road trip (which included five games in Canada) that saw them go 4-2, the St. Louis Blues return to Scottrade Center for Saturday night’s game and begin a five-game homestand against the New York Islanders. The Blues will look to consider their spirited play against New York, who has gotten off to a similarly strong 4-1-1 start through their first six games. Luckily, the Blues will have the chance to face the Islanders on the rear end of a back-to-back, as they play the Boston Bruins on Friday night and will be flying into St. Louis overnight.
Former Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who has been injured to start the season, will get his third start of the season on Friday in Boston, likely meaning that one of the Isles’ other goalies–Thomas Greiss or Jean-Francois Berube–will get the start in St. Louis on Friday. The Blues will still have to contend, however, with Islanders center John Tavares, one of the hottest players in the league who has four goals and five assists through his first six games, tying him with Vladimir Tarasenko for fifth in the league in points.
Saturday will be Hockey Fights Cancer night at Scottrade, which will be particularly relevant for the Blues considering that the first player in franchise history, Jimmy Roberts, who also served as an assistant coach and interim coach during the 1990s, died on Friday following a short but severe battle with cancer. The Blues will undoubtedly be fighting extra hard on Saturday for one of the most revered players in franchise history. There’s expected to be a moment of silence for Roberts, who had initially been expected to drop the ceremonial face-off before Saturday’s game.
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Despite the fact that forward Robby Fabbri (concussion) and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (groin) practiced with the team on Friday, both players will remain out on Saturday, with Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning being their targeted return date. In what has become a disturbing trend, the Blues will be without yet another player on Saturday, as forward Jaden Schwartz suffered a leg injury during practice that looked to be potentially serious.
To give themselves a full complement of forwards against the Islanders, the Blues called up Ty Rattie from the AHL Chicago Wolves on Friday, and he’ll be in the lineup Saturday. Rattie, who had four goals and three assists in three games for the Wolves this year, has played 13 games over the past two seasons for the Blues but has yet to record his first NHL goal.
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Brian Elliott, who is still undefeated over four games this season, will get the start in goal against New York. He has a 2.01 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in four games this season.
Alexander Steen-Jori Lehtera–Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitrij Jaskin–David Backes–Troy Brouwer
Ty Rattie–Scott Gomez–Scottie Upshall
Steve Ott–Kyle Brodziak–Ryan Reaves
Alex Pietrangelo–Jay Bouwmeester
Carl Gunnarsson–Colton Parayko
Joel Edmundson–Robert Bortuzzo
Brian Elliott
Next: Blues' Jaden Schwartz Injured During Practice; Ty Rattie Recalled
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