St. Louis Blues Try to End Regular Season on High Note vs. Washington Capitals
The St. Louis Blues will look for a win to end their regular season, while possibly having a chance to clinch the Central Division against the Washington Capitals.
The St. Louis Blues will take one last stab at trying to win the Central Division on Saturday evening, as they’ll host the Washington Capitals for the final game of their 2015-16 regular season schedule. The Blues could come away with the division title and the top seed in the Western Conference if they’re able to knock off Washington and the Dallas Stars, with whom the Blues are currently tied, lose against the Nashville Predators.
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A Blues overtime loss paired with a Stars regulation loss would also do the trick.
A division title would earn the Blues a first-round series against the 8-seed Minnesota Wild, though that may not be a particularly good thing considering that they’re a pedestrian 3-2 against Minnesota this year. The Blues have the same record against the Chicago Blackhawks, who they’d play if they finished second in the division, and they proved on Thursday night that they’re capable of beating Chicago, even with a depleted lineup.
The Capitals, who clinched the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s most successful team over a week ago, may have their foot off of the gas pedal on Saturday. They’ve lost their past three games, and Caps coach Barry Trotz recently admitted that it’s tough to expect his team to manufacture urgency when all their remaining regular season games are meaningless. That could help out the Blues, as Dallas’s Saturday opponent, Nashville, will be trying to create as much momentum as possible as they head into the postseason with a Wild Card spot.
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The Blues will make at least one lineup change on Saturday, as rookie forward Robby Fabbri will return following a four-game absence due to a lower-body injury. He’ll likely knock Magnus Paajarvi, who has been playing on Fabbri’s usual line alongside Paul Stastny and Troy Brouwer, from the lineup. It appears that the Blues will field their best lineup as they try to lock up the division on Saturday, but with it being Game 82, it’s always possible that they could give someone a rest in advance of the postseason.
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Here’s what the lineup could end up looking like against Washington:
Alexander Steen–Jori Lehtera–Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz–Patrik Berglund–Dmitrij Jaskin
Robby Fabbri–Paul Stastny–Troy Brouwer
Scottie Upshall–Kyle Brodziak–Ryan Reaves
Joel Edmundson–Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester–Kevin Shattenkirk