St. Louis Game Time - Coyotes At Blues GameDay Storystream: Will The Scoring Repeat?We're one ugly bastard.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/10753/gt-fave.png2013-03-14T18:30:03-05:00http://www.stlouisgametime.com/rss/stream/38634692013-03-14T18:30:03-05:002013-03-14T18:30:03-05:00Coyotes At Blues GameDay Thread
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<figcaption>Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>The Blues will be T.J. Oshie-less for tonight, but that doesn't mean that they still can't take it to the Coyotes.</p> <p>No Oshie? No problem! Well, ok, we hope no problem. The Blues have been bitten hard by the injury bug recently; it's not like it's something that they haven't dealt with before, but it's still something that no one would like for them to deal with. Despite the fact that this is fast becoming an annual conundrum, and something that the Blues have learned how to deal with, it's more worrisome in this shortened season. There are fewer games to make up any lost ground.</p>
<p>Thankfully, <a href="http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=660149&navid=DL%7CSTL%7Chome">Alex Steen's been activated off of the IR for tonight</a>, so maybe that'll balance off the team sans-Oshie.</p>
<p>The Blues are smack dab in the middle of the playoff hunt, and so are the Coyotes. Tonight boils down to which team plays harder, and both teams have an incentive to play their rear ends off. Phoenix has an extra, shinier incentive than the Blues do, though:</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1496089/BFKPbUPCQAAbJfQ.jpg_large.jpg"><img class="photo" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1496089/BFKPbUPCQAAbJfQ.jpg_large_medium.jpg" alt="Bfkpbupcqaabjfq"></a></p>
<p>via <a href="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/hPNFiK5JB4zJfOvuMzynoA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusnhlexperts/BFKPbUPCQAAbJfQ.jpg_large.jpg">l3.yimg.com</a></p>
<p>Eat your heart out, weenie hat.</p>
<p>This is your game day thread. Cheer the Blues on, and hope that they don't give the Coyotes a chance to pass around that God-awful thing. Yeesh. <a href="http://www.stlouisgametime.com/2013/3/13/4097844/gtgt-lady-sees-the-blues">Also, if you'd like to join us, we're having dinner pre-game at the Flying Saucer</a>.</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2013/3/14/4099710/gamethread-for-phoenix-coyotes-at-st-louis-blues-mar-14-2013hildymac2013-03-14T13:00:08-05:002013-03-14T13:00:08-05:00Coyotes At Blues Game Preview
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<figcaption>Dilip Vishwanat</figcaption>
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<p>The Coyotes are on-again, off again this season -- and they come to St. Louis possibly at the start of an off-again stretch. </p> <p>In March, the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/phoenix-coyotes" class="sbn-auto-link">Coyotes</a> like to do stuff in pairs. They win two, they lose two, they win two... and now, in St. Louis, they're right at the start of a "lose two" set. Hopefully.</p>
<p><span>Jake Allen</span> was in net in the last game on March 7th, which the <a href="https://www.stlouisgametime.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Blues</a> won 6-3 in Phoenix. It was a lopsided loss that the Coyotes took, and it wouldn't shock me in the least if they weren't more than a little frustrated. <span>Mike Smith</span> was in net for all six goals, and <span>Scott Nichol</span> had the game winner, for God's sake. You can't tell me that Phoenix'd like some revenge served up cold.</p>
<p>It's up for the Blues' defense to prevent that from happening. They've been a little better the past few games, though if they could work on the turn-over issue and on clearing the puck effectively from their own zone, that would be tremendous.</p>
<p>Looking at the Blues' offense, they have two players (Chris Stewart with 23 and David Perron with 20) who have cracked the 20 point mark, and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk are darn close. Stewart has been absolutely solid as of late, with four goals and five assists in his last five games. In that same time period, David Perron has two goals and four assists, and Patrik Berglund has four goals and two assists. I guess that line's a keeper.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.stlouisgametime.com/2013/3/13/4099150/t-j-oshie-injury-oshie-has-upper-body-injury" target="_blank">Oshie, though, probably won't be contributing tonight.</a> He'll more than likely sit out with a rib injury.</p>
<p>One other quick thing -- Barret Jackman is a +8. Alex Pietrangelo is a -4. If you sit next to a Jackman hater, you could always toss that stat their way, but they probably won't care.</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2013/3/14/4099440/coyotes-at-blues-preview-will-the-yotes-have-some-bitehildymac2013-03-14T08:00:11-05:002013-03-14T08:00:11-05:00Coyotes At Blues Morning Open Thread
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<figcaption>Dilip Vishwanat</figcaption>
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<p>The last time these two teams met up, the Blues exploded for six goals. Is this the offense we'll be seeing tonight?</p> <p>First off, a disclaimer: I am probably somewhere near Chattanooga as this posts. I've written everything but the re-cap for tonight's game on Wednesday, so if there's outdated information in here, that's why. Just discuss the right stuff in the comments instead.</p>
<p>Presumably after making 39 saves on Tuesday night, goaltender <span>Jake Allen</span> will be getting the go-ahead to try to improve his home record. The only two games that he has played at Scottrade Center have come against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fearthefin.com/">San Jose Sharks</a>, and in those two home games he's allowed a total of four goals. Not half bad. He's been a very pleasant surprise for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stlouisgametime.com/">Blues</a> this season, translating his middling effort in Peoria to a 6-1 record with the big boys. That could be more a reflection of the team in front of him as far as the Rivermen are concerned; when the Blues are in front of him, they seem to play a smarter game of hockey.</p>
<p>The one annoying habit that they persist in having is turnovers. By the end of the first period Tuesday, if my memory serves me correctly, they had nime turnovers to San Jose's two. This is bad. Their face-off percentage also could have been a little higher. <span>Scott Nichol</span> and <span>Vladimir Sobotka</span> had good numbers in the circle (67% and 57% respectively) but <span>David Backes</span> could have worked on his. He was just five-for-14 against the same guys that the fourth and third line guys were.</p>
<p>Go on and post predictions, line-up updates, and whatever else you want to in the comments. Here's hoping we see Alex Steen back tonight at the very least.</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2013/3/14/4099350/coyotes-at-blues-morning-open-thread-will-the-scoring-repeathildymac