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St. Louis Blues Seek 3-0 Start As They Host New York Rangers

By Patrick Karraker

Feb 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) blocks the shot of New York Rangers left wing Marek Hrivik (46) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The New York Rangers defeat the St. Louis Blues 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) blocks the shot of New York Rangers left wing Marek Hrivik (46) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The New York Rangers defeat the St. Louis Blues 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) blocks the shot of New York Rangers left wing Marek Hrivik (46) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The New York Rangers defeat the St. Louis Blues 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

The St. Louis Blues have the opportunity to start 3-0 for the first time since 2013-14 if they can find a way to defeat the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Though they’ll be hosting a team they really struggled with in 2015-16 on Saturday, the St. Louis Blues have an opportunity to begin the season with three straight wins for the first time since 2013-14 (when they began 4-0). That’d be a major statement out of the gate for a Blues team that was very much an unknown after losing a host of important contributors this offseason.

The problem for the Blues is that they’ll be facing a Rangers team that very much had their number last season. The Blues lost both of their matchups with the Blueshirts (making the Rangers one of only six teams that beat the Blues twice in regulation last season), and they weren’t particularly encouraging games, as the Rangers outscored the Blues 8-4 over the two matchups.

Clearly it wasn’t an issue of efficiency–the Blues got off a combined 70 shots between the two games, compared to 45 for the Rangers–but they just didn’t have the same type of success that they enjoyed against most other teams. It also probably didn’t help that the Blues were slumping at the time of both matchups; the first came during a mid-November stretch in which they lost three of four, and the second came in the middle of a three-game losing streak in mid-February.

In what could be either a good or bad sign for the Blues, the Rangers went through a bit of a rebuild this offseason, and five of the 12 forwards they utilized in Thursday’s season opener were new to the organization. The early returns on the project were tremendous, as four of those players combined for five points in the Rangers’ season-opening 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders. But as is often the case with newly-constructed teams, they hit road blocks against certain opponents, so it’s always possible that the Blues could end up being a thorn in this Rangers team’s collective side.

Let’s take a quick look at what kinds of lineup changes the Blues will make against the Rangers:

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