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A win tonight could give the Blues nine out of a possible ten points at home. The Blues’ 11-1-3 home record this year gives new meaning to the term home ice advantage, especially when taking in concert with their 3-6-1 road record. It’s almost a shame for this homestand to end (unless you’re Brad. Then you’re probably really damn happy about this homestand being over).
The Montreal Canadiens are riding Carey Price to the league’s best record; luckily, tonight the Blues will be facing off against Al Montoya. Montoya is 3-3-0 with a 3.13 GAA and a .903 save percentage. He’s vulnerable, but the rest of the Habs? Not necessarily.
Jake Allen will be back in net tonight. Allen is 12-3-3 with a 2.47 GAA and a .907 save percentage. He’s been solid so far this year with the exception of a couple blow-outs, but at home he has been absolutely ridiculous. He’s 9-0-0 at Scottrade and has a 1.78 GAA and a .932 save percentage. Whether the team as a whole plays better at home than on the road, or if Allen’s the reason for the Blues’ home record, there’s not much to refute the fact that the Blues’ are one of the league’s best home teams and that their record is dependent upon that.
Unfortunately, Robert Bortuzzo won’t be in the line-up for the next six weeks. Fortunately, Joel Edmundson is returning tonight from a stay on the IR. Jori Lehtera will be back in the line-up tonight, however.
"Yeah, (Lehtera) is playing for sure," Hitchcock said. "I want to see the forceful player that we had last year and the player we had in the playoffs ... I want to see that. I understand you're out for a little while, you come back from an injury. But we need a good player in that position right now, we need that player that we had last year and that player that we had through the playoffs. I think it's been 10-11 games he's been back and we need to see a different player."
Enjoy. Here’re tonight’s projected lines. They’re unique.
Forwards
Robby Fabbri - Paul Stastny - David Perron
Jaden Schwartz - Alexander Steen - Vladimir Tarasenko
Jori Lehtera - Patrik Berglund - Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Ryan Reaves
Defense
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson - Colton Parayko
Goalie
Jake Allen