St. Louis Blues Hunt for Season Sweep of New Jersey Devils on Tuesday
The St. Louis Blues will take on the New Jersey Devils Tuesday evening with a lineup that could be extremely decimated by injuries.
The St. Louis Blues host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at Scottrade Center, returning to St. Louis to begin a four-game home streak and try to establish a two-game winning streak. The Blues weren’t particularly impressive on Saturday night in Los Angeles as they finally snapped a tumultuous five-game losing streak.
The team was already without Jake Allen, Jay Bouwmeester, and Paul Stastny heading into Saturday’s game, and they lost Carl Gunnarsson and Magnus Paajarvi along the way. The Blues got just 16 shots on goal during the entire game, failing even to surpass 10 until roughly halfway through the third period, and they didn’t score at all during a five-minute power play that occurred after the Kings’ Brayden McNabb received a game misconduct for charging Paajarvi and knocking him from the contest. Brian Elliott was able to hold strong in goal, stopping 26 of 27 Kings shots and shutting them down for six rounds of the shootout, so on the veteran goalie’s back the Blues were able to come up with the win after Troy Brouwer scored in the seventh round of the shootout.
More from Arch Authority
- St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk to begin Double-A rehab stint
- John Brebbia deserves a shot as the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer
- St. Louis Cardinals place Randal Grichuk on DL, recall José Martínez
- St. Louis Cardinals release RHP Corey Baker from organization
- St. Louis Cardinals activate Kolten Wong and Kevin Siegrist from DL, option Luke Weaver and Alex Mejia to Triple-A
The Devils aren’t the most intimidating team in the NHL by any means; they would possess a wild card spot if the playoffs were to start today, but they clearly could stand to improve their 21-17-5 record. The Blues, however, who still are tied for the fifth most points in the NHL at 55, cannot afford to overlook New Jersey, especially since the Blues are a disappointing 6-7-5 against the Eastern Conference this year.
A very different-looking Blues team defeated the Devils back on November 10 in New Jersey. The Blues were able to get 28 shots on goal–far more than the 16 they got Saturday in Los Angeles–and the defense was stout and responsible, helping Jake Allen get his second straight shutout to continue a three-game winning streak.
More from St. Louis Blues
- An early projection of the St. Louis Blues’ opening-night roster
- St. Louis Blues sign Klim Kostin to three-year, entry-level contract
- St. Louis Blues: Nail Yakupov signs with Colorado Avalanche
- St. Louis Blues: An homage to Chris Butler
- St. Louis Blues agree to one-year contract with Oskar Sundqvist
Even if Magnus Paajarvi‘s injury status is ignored, a third of the players who collected points against New Jersey in that game are no longer on the Blues’ roster. Martin Havlat kicked off the scoring in that game with the only goal of his extremely brief Blues tenure. He was assisted by Scott Gomez, who was released into free agency late last month after refusing an assignment to AHL Chicago, and Troy Brouwer. Paajarvi would later contribute his first goal of the season thanks to assists from Alex Pietrangelo and Dmitrij Jaskin.
—
Bouwmeester, Gunnarsson, and Paajarvi are all ruled out for Tuesday, and it’s also more likely than not that Stastny will miss the game against the Devils. To compensate for all the injuries, the Blues recalled forward Ty Rattie and defenseman Chris Butler, both of whom last played for the NHL club in the now-famous November 4 “#RoarBacon” victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Rattie and Butler, who were recalled on emergency conditions, are both expected to be in the lineup against New Jersey. If Stastny is indeed out, the Blues will be utilizing all their healthy skaters on Tuesday, so there won’t be any drama throughout the day about lineup decisions.
Here’s how the lineup against New Jersey will likely be assembled:
Robby Fabbri–Jori Lehtera–Vladimir Tarasenko
Scottie Upshall-Alexander Steen-Troy Brouwer
Patrik Berglund–David Backes–Ty Rattie
Dmitrij Jaskin–Kyle Brodziak–Ryan Reaves
Kevin Shattenkirk–Alex Pietrangelo
Chris Butler–Robert Bortuzzo