GDT#46: 1/19/12 > Blues vs Oilers > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

[dmiles2186]

The St. Louis Blues have set a single-season club record by earning at least one point in 13 straight home games.

The streak was put in serious jeopardy two weeks ago by an unlikely opponent.

Although the surging Blues have as many victories since New Year's Day as Edmonton has since Thanksgiving, St. Louis probably won't be overlooking the Oilers on Thursday night after needing a third-period rally to win the last meeting.

The Blues (27-12-6) have been off since Monday's 1-0 win over Dallas, the middle contest of a five-game homestand. T.J. Oshie scored his 14th goal - tying him with David Backes for the team lead - at 11:26 of the third period and Jaroslav Halak stopped 22 shots for his second shutout in three starts.

After losing its final three games of 2011, St. Louis has earned 13 out of a possible 14 points this month (6-0-1) and is one of five teams with at least 60.

"Getting into the 60s is good," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "If we can quickly plow a way and get through the 70s now, there's light at the end of the tunnel. For me, it's about the points."

St. Louis has had no trouble piling up points at home.

The Blues have the NHL's second-best home record at 19-3-3, and are 11-0-2 at the Scottrade Center since Dec. 6. Despite that home-ice dominance, Edmonton (17-24-4) had St. Louis on the ropes there Jan. 5.

The Oilers led 3-1 after 40 minutes before Backes, Alex Pietrangelo and Matt D'Agostini scored third-period goals to lift St. Louis to a 4-3 victory. It was the Blues' fourth straight home win over Edmonton and helped them improve to 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings.

Although the Oilers nearly stunned St. Louis earlier this month, they could be without two of the players that scored goals in that game.

Jordan Eberle, who leads Edmonton with 17 goals, is still nursing a right knee injury sustained Jan. 7 and Taylor Hall could sit out another game after getting cut above his eye prior to Tuesday's 4-2 loss at Columbus. Hall, who has 15 goals, collided with a teammate and fell on another teammate's skate during warm-ups.

"This is one of those fluky things," coach Tom Renney said. "It just happens. Not much we can do about it."

The Oilers, 1-11-0 in their last 12 road games and 6-16-2 overall since Nov. 23, are already without rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has 13 goals and 35 points.

Missing three of their top four goal scorers doesn't bode well against a St. Louis team that allows 1.98 goals per game - tied for the best in the NHL - and leads the league with eight shutouts.

All-Star goaltender Brian Elliott agreed to a two-year, $3.6 million contract extension Wednesday, but Halak is expected to get the call against the Oilers.

Halak has posted a 1.18 GAA in winning his five starts this month, and is 9-0-3 with a 1.62 GAA overall since Nov. 29. He stopped 29 shots against the Oilers two weeks ago, and is 3-1-1 with a 2.57 GAA and a shutout lifetime against them.

Edmonton's Devan Dubnyk, who has started the last two games, stopped 33 shots in the loss to St. Louis, and is 2-2-0 with a 2.73 GAA in four starts this month.

Nikolai Khabibulin is 0-5-1 with a 4.09 GAA in his last six games, but is 6-1-2 with a 2.52 GAA in his last nine starts versus the Blues.

[gaijin]

Damn, I hate playing the Oilers. They are just the sort of team the Blues always seem to have trouble with.

But then again, this ain't your average Blues team.

[cprice12]

Edmonton Notes:
- Road Record: 6-17-1
- Last 10 Games: 2-7-1
- Have lost 4 in a row on the road and 10 of last 11.
- Only 5 wins in their last 23 games.
- D Cam Barker (ankle) is out until February.
- D Ryan Whitney (ankle) is out until mid-January.
- D Alex Plante (concussion) is day-to-day.
- C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) is out until early February.
- D Tom Gilbert (ankle) is out until February.
- RW Jordan Eberle (knee) is out until the All-Star break.
- C Eric Belanger (back) is day-to-day.
- LW Taylor Hall is questionable for this game after suffering a severe cut above the eye in warmups.
[youtube][/youtube]

Goaltenders:
Devan Dubnyk
Nikolai Khabibulin

Defense Pairings:
Ladislav Smid, Jeff Petry
Andy Sutton, Corey Potter
Theo Peckham, Colton Teubert

First Line:
LW Taylor Hall, C Sam Gagner, RW Ales Hemsky

Second Line:
LW Anton Lander, C Shawn Horcoff, RW Ryan Jones

Third Line:
LW Magnus Paajarvi, C Ryan O'Marra, RW Ryan Smyth

Fourth Line:
LW Darcy Hordichuk, Josh Green, RW Ben Eager

St. Louis Notes:
- Home Record: 19-3-3 (best in the NHL)
- Last 10 Games: 6-2-2
- Have won 6 of last 7 games.
- Have points in 13 straight home games (11-0-2).
- Blues have shutout their opponent in 3 of the last 5 games.
- Have not allowed a 3rd period goal in the last 9 games.
- Halak has only allowed 2 goals in his last 211 minutes, 3 seconds of play...and has two shutouts over that span.
- Steen and Russel are expected to return to the lineup tonight.
- LW Andy McDonald (concussion) is skating with the team and has passed his baseline test. He is still listed as out indefinitely.
- D Kent Huskins (ankle) suffered a fractured bone in his left ankle blocking a shot against - Calgary Oct. 28. He had surgery and will be out until early February.

Goaltenders:
Jaroslav Halak
Brian Elliott

Defense Pairings:
Carlo Colaiacovo, Alex Pietrangelo
Barret Jackman, Kevin Shattenkirk
Ian Cole, Roman Polak

First Line:
LW David Perron, C David Backes, RW T.J. Oshie

Second Line:
LW Matt D'Agostini, C Patrik Berglund, RW Chris Stewart

Third Line:
LW Vladimir Sobotka, C Jason Arnott, RW Jamie Langenbrunner

Fourth Line:
LW B.J. Crombeen, C Scott Nichol, RW Ryan Reaves

Chicago and Vancouver are both idle.
Detroit plays in Phoenix tonight, they have played one more game than us and have one more point, so if they lose in regulation or in OT, and we win, we're back in 1st place in the West.

9th place Minnesota has only two wins in their last 16 games and is now 9 pts. behind us in the standings. The reality that we make the playoffs looks excellent.

[thedoc]

I don't know if Hall is playing tonight but I still think we can win this and get Big Mac's. That said...

Blues 5

Valvoline 2

[cprice12]

Halak is in net tonight.

[ohio BLUES]

Columbus beat them. We'd better score 12 and shut them out.

Blues 12 (Perron x12)
Oilers 0

[thedoc]

Halak is in net tonight.

I said Hall

[cprice12]

Halak is in net tonight.

I said Hall

Did I quote you?
I was just saying...Halak is starting.


(bah, no, that's a lie...I thought you said Halak...misread what you typed... )

I doubt Hall is in the lineup. Some were saying he was going to be out for some time.

edit: Nope, Hall is out tonight.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/01/ ... -mom-says/

Hall did not practice with the Oilers in St. Louis on Wednesday and he won’t play against the Blues on Thursday night.

[Ron Finger]

Ken Hitchcock hates Russians.

[DaDitka]

Gotta get 6 points out of these last three home games this month.

Sure we're tight at that top of the standing now, but we only have 13 more home games after the all star break.

60% of our remaining games will be played on the road.

Blues > Oilers

[gaijin]

Gotta get 6 points out of these last three home games this month.

Sure we're tight at that top of the standing now, but we only have 13 more home games after the all star break.

60% of our remaining games will be played on the road.

Blues > Oilers

That's key right there. With this extended home stand, we've got to put some distance between us and our nearest competitors now. You don't want to have to play catch up in the standings with road games.

[cardsfan04]

Blues 5
Oilers 0

[KPFBlue]

Blues 6 (Backes, Perron, Carlo, Stewart, Pietro, Shatty)
Lubricators 1 (Fart noise)

[ohio BLUES]

This is why Taylor Hall's out tonight:

[Gaijin Flyer]

Blues 4 Shattenkirk, Perron, Arnott, Backes [ENG]
Oilers 2 Whatever AHL callup is in his first game x2

Comeback win again.

[glen a richter]

Because Curt jinxed him in another thread...

Blues 4
Oilers 5, Halak back to beginning of the season form.

[kodos]

Steen still out tonight. Ugh.

[cardsfan04]

Steen still out tonight. Ugh.

That sucks. I kinda wish it didn't come out that he was just about back. I think I'd rather be wondering when he's going to come back than to wonder why he hasn't come back when they said he was about to.

[kodos]

It's almost to the point where they might as well wait until after the all-star break, to give him a lot more rest.

[cardsfan04]

It's almost to the point where they might as well wait until after the all-star break, to give him a lot more rest.

Yeah, I agree. We shouldn't overlook any game, but tonight and Saturday really should be almost automatic wins w/ or w/o Steen. The game in Detroit will be tough and the game at against Pittsburgh is far from automatic, but I still think it could be better for him to get that extra rest if he's iffy.

From what I know about Hitch though, he would probably cringe at this post.