Two of the NHL's top teams will meet for a second time this season when the New York Rangers host the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
The Blues (5-2-2) emerged with a 3-2 win in St. Louis on Oct. 18. The Rangers (6-3-0) entered the third period down a goal with the Blues missing three players due to injury. Despite being undermanned, St. Louis survived being outshot 15-0 over the final 20 minutes thanks to goaltender Carter Hutton's splendid play.
The offense has dried up for the Blues with three goals over their past three games, but one was enough in a shutout victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Goaltender Jake Allen made 27 saves and doesn't think the lack of scoring is any more than a little slump over a long season.
"It's just one of those little stretches where pucks are either hitting a stick, hitting a post, when most of the time they're going in," Allen said. "That's going to turn for us soon. We've just got to work through it. The goals will come."
"It would be nice to see a few more go in and guys to start gripping it a little bit less, myself included," said left winger Jaden Schwarz, who has just one goal in five games. "Our goalies have been awesome. We haven't been scoring much but have still been able to get points."
Scoring has not been a problem for the Rangers, who are averaging a league-best 3.89 goals per game. Their six goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday are two fewer than the Blues have scored in their past five games. The balance has been there too, with seven players scoring at least three goals.
The Blues have just four players with at least three goals.
Right wing Michael Grabner, a third-liner for New York, scored three goals himself against the Lightning.
It's an example of how just about anyone in the Rangers lineup can be deadly for opponents this season.
"A lot of our chances started from good defense, from good smart decisions coming through the neutral zone, and us catching them when we get a chance," said Rangers left wing J.T. Miller, who leads the team with nine points in nine games.
"We talked about (Tampa's defense) being up in the rush all the time and giving us a transition game so we can transition on them."
The Rangers speed has been giving teams problems all season and the Blues aren't one of the quicker clubs in the league. It didn't matter in the first encounter between the teams because of Hutton, so it will be on whoever is in net for coach Ken Hitchcock's team to make the difference.
"I don't think that way," Allen said about feeling the pressure to make every save when his team isn't scoring. "That's when they score on you. You just keep playing your game and try not to let anything faze you. If you need one goal, if you need a shutout, so be it, but you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself. It's just sort of one minute at a time."
Rangers left wing Chris Kreider had three goals in five games before neck spasms caused him to miss the past four contests. Even without one of their hottest scorers to start the season, the Rangers still averaged four goals per game.
"You want to play obviously but it's very encouraging to see how the team is doing," Kreider said to the media after practice on Monday. "We're clicking on a lot of different levels, playing the way they want to play. So at the end of the day, that's what matters."
Blues • The Blues beat the Rangers 3-2 at Scottrade on Oct. 15 though they were outshot 35-18 thanks to a stellar game in goal from Carter Hutton. They were outshot 15-0 in the third period of that game. Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a goal and an assist in that game. … The Blues have lost to the Rangers in regulation at MSG just once since 1998-99; that was last year, a 6-3 defeat.
Rangers • New York has won four of its past five, most recently a 6-1 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. The Rangers lead the league in goals per game and are the only team with seven players with three or more goals already. They’re 5-1 at home and have outscored opponents 27-14. … Rangers coach Alain Vigneault played parts of two seasons with the Blues, from 1981-83. … F Chris Kreider has four goals and three assists in his past five games against the Blues.
Injuries • Blues — D Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) is out. Rangers – F Josh Jooris (shoulder) is out.
It’s common for a lot of athletes to downplay individual achievements, and if that athlete is Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who downplays everything, you wouldn’t expect a colorful response to the fact that he will play in NHL game No. 1,000 on Tuesday.
But Bouwmeester admitted to knowing that he entered the 2016-17 season needing just 10 games to reach the milestone, making him only the 307th player in league history to do so, and acknowledged the significance.
“It’s a long time,” Bouwmeester said. “You think about it, ‘Where did it all go?’ Because it goes by pretty quick. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had any big injuries and I’ve been able to stay relatively healthy over the course of time. It’s kind of cool. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t kind of a neat milestone. It’ll be neat.”
Bouwmeester, who was the No. 3 overall pick by Florida in 2002, was 19 years old when he broke into the league. He played six seasons with Florida and three with Calgary before being traded to the Blues in 2013. He had a streak that covered each of those teams and reached 737 consecutive games — the fifth-longest in league history — before it ended Nov. 22, 2014, due to an injury with the Blues.
Bouwmeester, who turned 33 in September, will be the 17th active player to have 1,000 games.
“He still feels like a young player to me,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He’s got a lot of games in him but he really started two years ahead of when most guys start. That’s been important, because he started at 18, he’s got 250 games in before most guys turn pro. So it’s pretty impressive to have that many games at such a young age.”
SIZE NEEDED
It appears that Dmitrij Jaskin will play on the fourth line for the third straight game Tuesday, keeping veteran Scottie Upshall a healthy scratch.
Jaskin didn’t have any points against LA and Detroit, but the 6-foot-2, 217-pound winger provides the Blues with a bigger body than Upshall (6-0, 200).
“I like the way that Jaskin is playing, I really do,” Hitchcock said. “I like the way that he’s competing. I just like what he’s bringing to the table right now, it gives us more size. ‘Uppie’ has been a good soldier for us, but we just felt that we needed more size on that line. But I don’t think you want to let veteran players get too far away. At some period of time, we’re going to have to make sure that Uppie stays in the lineup.”
INSPIRATIONAL STORY
The Blues were inspired, like the rest of the NHL, by the performance of Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson Sunday under heart-tugging circumstances. After disclosing that his wife, Nicholle, had been diagnosed with cancer, he made 37 saves in a 2-0 shutout over Edmonton, which was 7-1 and averaging 3.6 goals per game.
“It was pretty cool,” Blues forward Alexander Steen said. “You could tell the emotion from all the guys when they congratulated him on the win. I’m sure it’s a difficult time, but it’s amazing to see how a group of guys can come together and support each other. I watched some of the interviews, and it was special.”
BLUE NOTES
Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (lower-body injury) is on the trip but only to receive treatment. The Blues have just six healthy defensemen, but don’t plan to make a call-up ... Jake Allen will get the nod in net Tuesday, giving him eight of the team’s first 10 starts ... Magnus Paajarvi, assigned to the American Hockey League last week, has two goals and one assist in three games with the Chicago Wolves.
Blues team scope
St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester will be playing in his 1,000th career regular-season game. He has 377 points (81 goals, 296 assists) in 999 games. His career includes a streak of 749 consecutive games, the fifth-longest in NHL history. "Consistency," said captain Alex Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester's defense partner. "That's 1,000 games of the same level of hockey, night in and night out. Awfully impressive." The Blues are coming off a 1-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, but they have three goals in their past three games and have been limited to one goal in five of their past six; the lone exception is a 6-4 win at the Calgary Flames on Oct. 22. "I think in Calgary we were able to kind of just expose them a little bit more, but right now we're kind of 50-50 on doing the hard things to score goals," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "Our forwards are doing a great job of working and getting pucks in the offensive zone, they're getting them to the point. We're not doing a great job of getting our shots through initially and then when they do get through we don't have a lot of net presence. It's a tale as old as time, you've got to get bodies there and you've got to screen guys like [Henrik] Lundqvist, otherwise they're going to have a field day."
Rangers team scope
The New York Rangers, who are 5-1-0 at Madison Square Garden, will have their full lineup for the first time this season with the return of left wing Chris Kreider. He's back after missing the past four games with neck spasms. The Rangers previously had injuries to defensemen Kevin Klein and Dan Girardi as well as forward Pavel Buchnevich, who will skate on the fourth line against St. Louis. "Obviously you're very excited, you want to see all the combinations and stuff that were in place throughout camp," captain Ryan McDonagh said. "I think it's a good sign that with all the ins and outs of the lineup that we've had guys who were able to contribute. Certainly we're excited to have Kreider back. He's a big part of our lineup." Kreider will skate on a line with center Mika Zibanejad and right wing Mats Zuccarello. He replaces Oscar Lindberg, who will be a healthy scratch. Kreider had seven points in five games before the neck spasms forced him out of the lineup. "Obviously you want to get back as soon as possible to play and help the team, do what you can to help them win," Kreider said. " good, healthy, excited. Just looking forward to trying to contribute any way I can."
Blues projected lineup
Alexander Steen -- Paul Stastny -- David Perron
Jaden Schwartz -- Jori Lehtera -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri -- Patrik Berglund -- Nail Yakupov
Dmitrij Jaskin -- Kyle Brodziak -- Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Scottie Upshall, Ty Rattie
Injured: Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)
Rangers projected lineup
Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey -- Derek Stepan -- Rick Nash
Michael Grabner -- Kevin Hayes -- J.T. Miller
Pavel Buchnevich -- Brandon Pirri -- Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh -- Dan Girardi
Marc Staal -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Klein
Antti Raanta
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched: Adam Clendening, Oscar Lindberg
Injured: Josh Jooris (shoulder)
Status report
Allen will start for the Blues. He was the backup to Carter Hutton in a 3-2 home win against the Rangers on Oct. 15. Allen has allowed one goal on 54 shots in the past two games. He is 0-1-0 with a 4.07 GAA and .821 save percentage in two career appearances against the Rangers.... Lundqvist will start after backing up Raanta in New York's 6-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. Lundqvist allowed three goals on 18 shots in the loss to the Blues at Scottrade Center on Oct. 15 and is 3-5-0 with a 2.55 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in nine career appearances against St. Louis.
Who's hot
Allen has won his past two decisions. ... McDonagh has assists in seven consecutive games and is second in the NHL this season with eight assists. .. Grabner had a hat trick in the win against the Lightning. His line, including Miller and Hayes, produced nine points on four goals and five assists. Miller has six points in the past four games.
This day in history:
1924: 1st US NHL franchise, Boston Bruins, founded.
1932: Al Arbour's birthday.
1959: Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a mask during an NHL game for the first time.
1967: Al Arbour and Bob Plager scored their first NHL goals and Glenn Hall earned his first Blues win (5-1) vs the Boston Bruins.
