TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues look to continue their strong play on home ice as they prepare for the third game of a four-game homestand on Saturday night vs. the Montreal Canadiens.
A 6-2 win vs. Detroit on Thursday was the team's sixth straight victory at Enterprise Center. Nathan Walker, who was recalled Wednesday on an emergency basis, scored two goals in the first period before scoring again in the third to record his first career NHL hat trick.
Goaltender Charlie Lindgren, called up to the Blues after a wild sequence of events brought him back to the NHL, turned away 29 of the 31 Red Wings' shots he faced. Thursday was Lindgren's second win in as many appearances this season. He made three saves in relief of the injured Ville Husso on Tuesday vs. Florida to get an overtime win in his Blues debut.
Lindgren played 24 career NHL games over five seasons with the Canadiens before coming to St. Louis and is likely to start between the pipes Saturday against his former team.
"It would definitely mean something to me," Lindgren said about matching up against Montreal. "Obviously I'm going to treat it like any other game, but yeah it means something... Once that puck drops, you really just want to go out and play."
Contributions from call-ups like Walker and Lindgren have come at the right time as the Blues are missing a number of players due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols. David Perron's return might not be far off, though, as he has practiced with the team for two consecutive days as he works his way back from an upper-body injury.
The Blues currently carry a record of 14-8-4, good for 32 points and, as of Friday afternoon, are second place in a tightly-contested Central Division behind the surging Minnesota Wild.
CANADIENS The Montreal Canadiens have struggled to find their footing this season after last year's run to the Stanley Cup Final. Montreal has lost five straight - four in regulation - and have won just two of their last 13 games.
The Canadiens are coming off a 2-0 home loss to Chicago on Thursday in which Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was born and raised just north of Montreal, recorded his 500th career win between the pipes. Fleury is just the third goalie in NHL history to reach that mark.
Like the Blues, the Habs have been affected by injuries and COVID-19 protocols this season, too. Two Canadiens are currently out in the League's COVID-19 protocols, and forward Tyler Toffoli, currently second on the team in points, went down with an upper-body injury on Dec. 6.
Former Blue Jake Allen has seen the bulk of the time in net this season in Carey Price's absence from the team. Allen, who is making his first trip back to St. Louis since being traded in September 2020, is the likely starter for Montreal.
Other former Blues returning include Joel Edmundson and Mike Hoffman.
The Canadiens are looking to develop their young star, Cole Caufield, the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and one of the League's most prominent young players. The 20-year-old forward has six points this season in 20 games.
Montreal currently sits eighth place in the Atlantic Division as of Friday afternoon, with an overall record of 6-19-3.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues and Canadiens, like many teams crossing national borders, have not faced each other since before the pandemic began. Their last matchup was on Oct. 19, 2019, a 5-2 Blues loss at Enterprise Center.
Montreal has won back-to-back matchups, though the teams are 3-3 in their last six meetings.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Charlie Lindgren, who spent five seasons in Montreal, looks to make a name for himself in a Blues organization full of talented goaltenders. In two appearances this season, Lindgren has made 32 saves on 34 shots, earning a pair of wins in the process.
CANADIENS Drafted by the Blues in 2008, Jake Allen had a long and storied tenure in St. Louis, playing seven seasons between the pipes. Allen currently ranks second all-time for the Blues in games played (289), wins (148), and shutouts (21). This season, Allen has a 2.96 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 21 appearances.
The St. Louis Blues will attempt to extend their home-ice dominance when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The Blues scored 29 goals while winning their past six games at Enterprise Center. Overall they are 9-3-1 at home this season.
The reeling Canadiens come to town with a five-game losing streak. They scored just seven goals during that span, and they suffered their third shutout of the season, 2-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks, on Thursday.
The Blues have been playing nine players down due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols. They played their past two games with just 17 skaters due to those issues, plus their salary cap constraints.
Despite that, they gained points in six of their last seven games overall (4-1-2) with help from AHL replacements such as Charlie Lindgren, who has taken over as the lead goaltender.
"I think a lot of the nerves that I get is more so before the puck drops, and then once that puck drops, you really just want to go out and play and feel the puck," Lindgren said after the Blues defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 on Thursday night.
"And I thought Detroit, they were trying to put a lot of pucks to the net early and that always kind of helps just trying to get a rhythm. And I think our team scoring a couple goals early, that always helps to kind of settle me in and we end up potting six. So, really, really good team effort tonight."
Nathan Walker scored a hat trick in that game while fellow AHL call-ups Dakota Joshua (two assists), Logan Brown and Scott Perunovich also played key roles.
"I think it's awesome," Lindgren said. "We're having a really good year down there (Springfield of the AHL), really good start, everyone's contributing. It's fun to see us five up here right now. We're pushing each other. We're trying to make every day count. And it's a great group of guys, I think, the leaders on this team, they welcomed us in, and they've done such a good job with us. I think a lot of credit goes to the dressing room as a whole as well."
The undermanned Canadiens are also dealing with injuries to several key players, but they have tightened up their defensive play in their past two losses.
They played the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning tough in a 3-2 loss Tuesday.
"Sometimes in these stretches when you're not winning, you're not getting any points on the board for the standings, it's hard to see positives," Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin said. "But I think the last two games there's some positives there that we can keep for the next day when you get to practice and watch video.
"Even if we're missing players, there is something to build on. The effort and attitude are there."
Of the injured Canadiens, defensemen Jeff Petry and forward Joel Armia are the closest to returning. The team has listed both as day to day.
For the Blues, forward David Perron (upper body) has resumed skating with the team and forward Tyler Bozak is nearing his return from COVID-19 protocols.
