Golden Knights at Blues Round-Robin Preview

The Blues, if they’re scoreboard watching, might be feeling better about their shaky start. The Blackhawks have the Oilers on some elimination ropes after their 4-3 victory over Edmonton. The Colorado Avalanche rolled over the Dallas Stars 4-0 yesterday as well, so holding the Avs to just two goals, one of which was a literal last second goal, looks better for the Blues.

Playoff seeding doesn’t matter much right this second because the first round opponents aren’t even set. If the Blues want to have the possibility of taking on the Blackhawks in the first round, they’ll need to win today’s game against the Golden Knights and Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars. That’d set the Blues up for a first round playoff series against a team that they swept during the regular season, plus a rivalry series that more than likely doesn’t need fans to be exciting. Win win!

Vegas is a team that no one should sleep on. The Stars did that on the 3rd, and they completely blew a solid lead much like the Blues did against the Knights back in January. The Blues could be without two key pieces tonight. Ivan Barbashev returned to St. Louis to be present for the birth of his child, and coach Craig Berube may be holding Robert Thomas out tonight for maintenance. Jordan Kyrou will be getting his first taste of this postseason tonight if that’s the case. MacKenzie MacEachern will be in for Barbashev, so this will also be his first postseason game as well.

As far as Vegas goes, Max Pacioretty will not be skating.