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The Blues struggled way too much in what should have been an easy matchup against the Oilers. Tonight, they're right back at it again, only against a much better team. If the Blues get off to yet another slow start, the Canucks are more than capable of seizing control of the game. Everybody on the team needs to get off to a good start, and not let up. Otherwise, they might be the one getting The Call that sends them to Hockey Purgatory (EDM/BUF/etc).
The Canuckleheads come into tonight's game with a 6-4-0 record in their last ten games (as do the Blues). They will be particularly motivated by their last game, a 6-3 loss to .... the Sabres? Really? Well, they'll certainly want to bounce back from that. The only previous game between these two teams was October 23rd, a 4-1 win for Vancouver backstopped by Ryan Miller . Miller is on IR right now, and the team is riding Eddie Lack for as long as it takes. Lack had two shutouts in February (against the Islanders and the Wild), but also has that Buffalo stinker on his resume. The Blues need to take advantage of that.
The Canucks are also missing Kevin Bieksa (broken hand), Christopher Tanev (head injury), and Alexandre Burrows (Lower Body). They may be getting back Frank Corrado (illness) to reinforce that incomplete D corps.
The scoring threats are all up front, and are all well known to Blues fans. Henrik Sedin leads the team in points with 56 (12 goals, 44 assists), and brother Daniel Sedin is right behind with 54 points (14g, 40a). Third on the team is Radim Vrbata, the goals leader with 22 marks on the year (plus 20 assists for 42 points). After that, there's a steep drop off to Chris Higgins with only 26 points.
Jake Allen gets the start tonight. Against the Oilers, Paul Stastny was the hero. His line was easily the best of the game. Who will it be tonight? Vladimir Tarasenko has yet to register a goal against the Canucks ... will that change tonight? The Canucks are only 3 points up on the Kings in the Pacific- as long as we get the win, allowing Vancouver the extra Bettman point wouldn't be too bad. The final standings won't be determined until they quit playing games in April, but a little influence couldn't hurt, right?
Further Reading:
GameDay Twitter Feed:
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Final Verse: Another late one, but the last of this road trip thankfully. The puck drops at 8:30 PM St Louis time, and the GDT should drop shortly beforehand. The TV broadcast is on Fox Sports MW, and the radio call will be on KMOX 1120 AM. Come join us night owls for the puck talk, and whatever else comes up. Until then,
LGB!!!