St. Louis Blues Ready to Get Winning Streak Going Against Pittsburgh Penguins
The Blues haven’t won back-to-back games since winning three straight from November 4-10, so they’ll be looking to break out of the slump against Pittsburgh.
St. Louis Blues Game 23/82: Wednesday, November 25, 6:00 PM at Pittsburgh Penguins
The St. Louis Blues head into Pittsburgh on the eve of Thanksgiving attempting to pick up their first pair of back-to-back wins in a long while. After defeating the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Monday night, the Blues will be looking for another win against the 12-8 Penguins, who currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division, but would be tied for fifth with that record in the Blues’ division, the Central.
Wednesday’s game will feature a wholesome selection of players going up against their former team. On the Blues’ side, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo will be in the lineup against the Penguins, who traded him to St. Louis at the deadline this past March. Bortuzzo scored a goal against Pittsburgh in his first return to Consol Energy Center, his only goal in 13 games for the Blues last season.
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For the Penguins, defenseman Ian Cole–who was traded for Bortuzzo–and forward David Perron, who played for the Blues from 2007 to 2013 and was acquired by Pittsburgh from Edmonton last winter, will both be in the Penguins’ lineup on Wednesday. Perron and Cole have both played in all 20 games for Pittsburgh this year. Neither player is enjoying a particularly strong season; Perron has just three goals and four assists this year, which puts him far off the pace of the 41 points he put up last season, while Cole has three assists but a career-worst minus-10 rating.
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The Blues will make one lineup alteration for Wednesday night’s game: Ryan Reaves will get back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past three. Coach Ken Hitchcock will be looking for more physicality against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. To achieve that, he’s willing to insert Reaves, the checking specialist, on the fourth line while sacrificing the flexibility that was provided in recent games by being able to shift Scottie Upshall, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Robby Fabbri up and down through the lineup.
Between the pipes, Jake Allen will get his ninth start in the Blues’ past 10 games. Allen, who’s pretty much been the Blues’ savior as they’ve dealt with a lack of consistent offense recently, has absolutely dominant numbers at this stage, as he’s 10-4-1 with a .932 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average.
Here’s how the Blues’ lineup is expected to look against Pittsburgh:
Alexander Steen-Paul Stastny–Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri–David Backes–Troy Brouwer
Magnus Paajarvi–Jori Lehtera-Dmitrij Jaskin
Steve Ott–Kyle Brodziak–Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester–Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson–Kevin Shattenkirk
Robert Bortuzzo-Colton Parayko
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