Arizona Coyotes at St. Louis Blues Preview: Home Sweet Home

Newsflash: the Arizona Coyotes have not had a very good season. They’re 10-28-9, last place in the Western Conference, and lost 3-2 in a shootout Thursday night against the Central Division leading Nashville Predators. Last minute blown leads and overtime losses aren’t the total property of the Yotes, but it’s still a kick in the gut when you’re down.

The Blues, on the other hand, are 2-0-0 since returning from the bye week. The time off has done some good for a franchise looking for their 1800th win, and home is a good place to get that milestone. The Blues have won three out of their last four home games, and have won 12 straight games against the Coyotes. That’s tied for the longest winning streak against an opponent in the league. Points in 16 straight against Arizona isn’t anything to sneeze at either.

This is a good time for the Blues to face the Coyotes. The Central Division is the tightest race in the NHL with just ten points dividing the Predators from the last place (!) Chicago Blackhawks. Any points the Blues can get will be vital down the home stretch.

Tonight’s lines look similar to the ones that were so successful against another shaky team: the Ottawa Senators.

Forwards

Ivan Barbashev - Paul Stastny - Vladimir Tarasenko

Alexander Steen - Brayden Schenn - Dmitrij Jaskin

Vladimir Sobotka - Patrik Berglund - Tage Thompson

Magnus Paajarvi - Kyle Brodziak - Chris Thorburn

Defense

Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo

Goalie

Carter Hutton

With the offense clicking and the defense scoring again, there’s no reason to tweak them.

You may notice that this is Carter Hutton’s third straight start. He’s tied for first in the league with Marc-Andre Fleury with a GAA of 1.72. He’s the hot hand. None of this should come as any surprise.