David Backes will do something Tuesday night he's never done before in his 11-year NHL career.
Play a game against the St. Louis Blues.
The former St. Louis captain, who signed a big free-agent contract with Boston during the offseason, and his Bruins will take on the Blues, a team that has struggled on the road so far this season.
"I'm just hoping I shoot at the right goalie. You get those familiar colors ... " Backes told NHL.com, adding, "It's an opportunity to play against a lot of good friends. I know probably everybody on that roster except one guy in a very close-knit way.
"It's going to be emotional, but I plan to just be in the moment and soak it all in and compete my butt off and try to help my team win the game, and let the rest be written as it may."
St. Louis is 8-1-2 at home and 6-0-2 in the last eight, but 2-5-1 on the road and visits a team that may have finally figured out a way to win on home ice.
The Bruins, whose failure to win at home cost them a playoff berth last season, started 1/3 at TD Garden but have won three straight home games -- capped by a strong performance in a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
And now Backes, who has seven points and is a plus-9 but has only one goal since opening night in Columbus, gets to play against his former team.
"It will be different seeing him on the other side," said goalie Jake Allen, who will start for the Blues, likely against Tuukka Rask. "He was such a key part to this group and team and organization. It's tough to see him part ways but that's the way the business goes. I'm sure we will say hi off the ice but we'll see what he's made of on the ice."
The Blues hit town without the injured Alexander Steen, who will miss his third straight game with an upper body injury. David Pastrnak, who leads the Bruins with 10 goals (four more than anyone else), has missed two games with an upper body injury and is closing in on a return.
Rask, just 3-1-3 lifetime but with a 2.22 goals against average and .923 save percentage lifetime against the Blues, is tied with Carey Price for the league lead in wins (11). He is second in the league with a 1.46 goals-against average and fifth with a .946 save percentage.
The Bruins are 0-5 in games that Rask hasn't started this season.
Allen is 2-1 but has allowed just two goals and has a .969 save percentage in three lifetime games against the Bruins. He comes in with three straight victories, yielding four goals in the three games. For the season, Allen is 8-3 with a 2.35 goals against and .910 save percentage.
"We need to take more pride playing on the road,"Allen said. "If we don't have that pride and urgency against these two teams (Boston and Washington), we are going to have our challenges."
The Bruins outshot Winnipeg 38-12 in winning for the fourth time in five games Saturday night, with Rask losing a shutout with 2:40 remaining.
Right wing David Backes certainly circled the date last summer when the NHL schedule was released.
When the St. Louis Blues play the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, NESN, FS-MW, NHL.TV), this won't be just your average run-of-the-mill encounter with a former teammate that barely knew St. Louis.
Backes was a staple of Blues hockey for the past 10 seasons, including the final five as captain. The Blues drafted Backes in the second round (No. 62) of the 2003 NHL Draft; he was one of theirs. The Blues groomed him and helped make Backes the NHL leader he is today. St. Louis was Backes' second home, where his daughter, Stella, was born.
But on July 1, when the Blues said goodbye by not resigning their 6-foot-3, 221-pound heart-and-soul leader, Backes moved on to Boston, and for the first time, he will be on the other end of the ice looking at the only NHL jersey team he played for prior to this season.
Backes signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Bruins and as far as the Blues were concerned, left behind 727 NHL regular season games, 206 goals, 254 assists and six appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including a run to the Western Conference Final last season. Backes' emotional interview after Game 6 painted a clear picture of a veteran who knew he likely had played his final game with St. Louis.
The Blues have had their share of games against former teammates this season, having faced Brian Elliott and Troy Brouwer of the Calgary Flames and Steve Ott of the Detroit Red Wings.
This is an entirely different level, and the Blues, who will welcome Backes back to St. Louis Jan. 10, realize the significance.
"This is way different. This is your captain," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said after practice Monday. "So this is going to be emotional for everybody. I just don't want to see us take any backseat because knowing David, he's going to compete like heck and knowing our players, we're going to compete like heck against him. But it is different. This is a guy that's been around for a long time. We have had a great relationship for a number of years, so this is going to be a little emotional for everybody."
Backes attended Alex Pietrangelo's wedding this past summer, and it was Pietrangelo who replaced Backes as Blues captain. The two remain close friends, and will get the chance to reminisce on Monday night when Backes, his wife Kelly and daughter welcome a number of former teammates to their home for dinner.
Backes, the Blues' 20th captain, has been a phone call away for Pietrangelo when adversity has come up for the first-year captain.
"It's obviously for myself and a lot of guys the opportunity for us to see him for the first time," Pietrangelo said. "We're going to go to his place tonight and catch up with someone who had a big impact on a lot of us. Obviously for me, (he's) still one of my close friends. It's an opportunity to see his wife, him and his baby. It's a great opportunity.
"He's been great for me. He's always answered my phone calls. A friend."
The Blues didn't fare so well (a 4-1 loss to the Flames and 2-1 shootout loss to the Red Wings) in their two previous games against former teammates. With a three-game winning streak on the line, they're hoping to continue to improve on the success of last week at the expense of a close friend.
"It's going to be fun," Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "I think we know he's someone who plays with a lot of passion and I think he's going to feel like he has something to prove [Tuesday]. In that respect, we've got to be careful because he can be deadly both on the scoresheet and obviously with how physical he can play. It's probably going to be a little strange to play against us and it'll be a little weird for us to see him in different colors."
Blues • The Blues have the best road power play in the league, converting on 33.3 percent of their chances, but are 27th in road points with five. Kevin Shattenkirk is tied for second in points by a defenseman with 14. He has four goals and 10 assists. Six of those asissts are on power plays. … Jake Allen will start in goal.
Bruins • Boston has won four out of five games and allowed just five goals in those games. Goalie Tuukka Rask is 11-2 with a 1.46 goals-against average, a .946 save percentage and three shutouts. He’s just the fourth goaltender in Bruins history with 11 wins in his first 13 games. … David Pastrnak leads the team with 10 goals; Brad Marchand has 11 assists.
Injuries • Blues — F Alexander Steen (upper body) and D Joel Edmundson (upper body) are out. Bruins — F David Pastrnak (upper body) and F Brian Ferlin (lower body) are day-to-day; F Noel Acciari (lower body), D Kevin Miller (hand) and F Frank Vatrano (foot) are out.
This day in history:
1917 NHL is formed with Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators & Quebec Bulldogs
1967 Lynn Patrick resigned as Head Coach; Scotty Bowman named Head Coach of St Louis Blues
1972 Pittburgh Penguins set record for fastest 5 goals scored (2:07) in 10-4 win over Blues.
1980 Bernie Federko set the Blues consecutive game Assists record at 10 games in 6-2 win over Red Wings
1983 Brian Sutter set Blues single game Assists record (5) in 7-4 win over the Maple Leafs.
1986 Gretzky nets 39th hat trick reaching the 500-goal mark.
2003 Pavol Demitra scores game-winning goal vs Dallas Stars earning his 200th goal and the Blues 200th win at Savvis Center.
