The Blues won a big game in the home opener against a good Philadelphia team that has a bit of a weakness in goal. They followed that up with a dominant win over the Ducks, who are poo. Tonight comes a test similar to the Philly game, as they take on the Nashville Predators, who have always played the Blues tough, even when they were really, really (really) terrible.
Now that they have a legitimate team, they have really owned the Blues, beating the Note five out of six games last season (the Blues are just 30-25-12-2 against the mustard boys since they came into the league). Tonight they'll be starting yet another unknown goaltender in a long line of unknown goaltenders who have sprouted up in Nashville and gone on to having solid careers (Mike Dunham played well there, as did Chris Mason, Tomas Vokoun and Dan Ellis. Pekka Rinne is the current starter from nowhere the Preds are counting on). Someone named Anders Lindbeck looks to get the start just one night removed from getting his first career NHL start and win against the reigning Cup champions.
The key for Nashville will be to molest the Blues' youngsters and to keep them from getting going and controlling the play like they did against Anaheim. The Blues, of course, cannot allow the Predators to turn this game into a defensive battle with few chances.
As noted in the paper today, the Blues have started a season 3-0 just twice in their history. If they can become the third team in franchise history to do that, they'll have an opportunity to become the first team in franchise history to go 4-0 on Saturday against Dallas.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Last year's 2-0 start devolved into a disastrous non-playoff drizzleshit of a season. Time to prove the marketing campaign rings true by making this game count. Game starts at 7 p.m. If you want to see what Pred fans think of the matchip, check out On the Forecheck.
This is your GDT. Bring that shit.