This is an odd weekend for the Blues. First there's this Saturday afternoon hockey game starting at 1p.m. That's a rare time for the Blues. Barely time enough to get in a morning skate and get warmed up. Most of these players are normally thinking about afternoon naps at this time on a normal game daywhen the puck drops today. If any team in the NHL could induce sleep, it's the Minnesota Wild! Love a good transition.
After this matinee, the Blues get on a plane and fly north to Chicago where the morning skate will be the game once again as the Blues and Hawks get it on at 11:30 a.m. The upside is that people looking for golf on NBC will get to see the Blues for the first time on network TV since I don't know when.
Obviously the key to the Blues' success this season is scoring three goals. They are undefeated this year when scoring at least three. No overtime losses, no shootout flubs. Their record is a perfect 27-0-0. So yeah, maybe the Blues should trade all their defensemen for some goal scorers. We have unlockedthe secret to the Blues success. Must score in threes. You know what the Blues' record is when their goalie gets a shutout? Perfect. You know what the Blues' record is when they score more goals than theother team? I don't know for sure, but I bet it's pretty damn good.
One request for the Blues today: don't allow the first goal to Minnesota. Or at least, don't allow it to be a soft goal. I really thought St. Louis was going to screw the pooch Thursday night when the Islanders jumped out on top quickly. It was obviously Chris Stewart's fault (I don't even know if he wason the ice for the goal), but I thought it threatened to give the Islanders a hop in their step and make theBlues nervous that they could lose two straight to vastly inferior competition. And then they scored fiveunanswered goals.
We do know that Jaroslav Halak had the flu yesterday. It was uncertain if the Blues would call up giant minor league goaltender Ben Bishop or not. Brian Elliott is all but guaranteed to get the start this afternoon (that's a weird phrase to type) and we'll see what happens for brunch tomorrow (even weirder).
This is your game day thread. Comment like it will get beads thrown at you.