Blues at Sharks preview: Walking wounded?

The Blues can ride a dominant win against the Vegas Golden Knights last night into a win at the SAP Center tonight. Behind two goals from Ryan O’Reilly, one from returning forward Brayden Schenn, and one from noted Golden Knights killer Oskar Sundqvist, the Blues romped to a 4-1 win. They’ve allowed just one goal in each of their last two games and most recently defeated the Sharks last Friday in an emphatic 4-0 shutout by Chad Johnson.

So, it stands to reason that the Blues may be riding high heading into tonight’s game, but this time, the Sharks are the team in the middle of a homestand, and the Blues are the team that’s played three games in four nights.

And, as an added bonus, they may be short a whole line. Pat Maroon is not with the team right now, Jaden Schwartz left with an injury last night, Alex Steen is probably out, and to add some gravy on that, Carl Gunnarsson is also potentially broken.

One well-rested member of the Blues is Johnson, who is starting tonight after Jake Allen’s excellent 32 save performance yesterday.

The Sharks are first in the Pacific with a 10-7-3 record and 23 points. The Blues are last in the Central with a 7-7-3 record and 17 points. It’s a long climb to the top, but a few more performances like last night may get them there.