St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Things Are Heating Up
By Todd Panula
Good morning Blues fans! The time has come for old friends to go down in flames – pun intended – as our former netminder returns to do battle.
The St. Louis Blues have been red-hot the last while. They have won eight of their last ten and four in a row. Now they look to extend that streak against a former ally.
Unfortunately, the team and player they will be facing have been just as hot, if not more so. The Calgary Flames may have lost two in a row, but they are 7-3 in their last ten games. Additionally, the Blues former goaltender caught fire the way he did last year for St. Louis.
Brian Elliott had won eleven straight decisions before finally tumbling in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. While his save percentage was a mixed bag over those games, he was making the big saves and even sprinkled in a few shutouts.
It seems inevitable that the Blues will face him this time. The Blues won a 6-4 game against the Flames on October 22, but the man called Moose was not in the lineup having played the previous game. He was in the game three days later and got the better of St. Louis in a 4-1 decision.
With Elliott missing the Flames loss to Nashville, there would be no reason to believe he will not be between the pipes to face his old team one last time this regular season.
The Blues will need to be sharp right from the get-go as the Flames are battling it out just like St. Louis for playoff positioning and to clinch a spot. The Flames were as high as second in the Pacific Division just a couple weeks ago, but are now the first wild card, proving how volatile the seeding is right now.
St. Louis is in a similar situation. They have the chance to vault over Calgary in the points category with a win and also keep themselves in that third divisional spot in the Central.
The vaulting over Calgary might not seem like a big deal, but if Nashville somehow passed the Blues, staying away from the Chicago Blackhawks would be best. That can only be achieved if the Blues have enough points to be the top wild card, should they fall out of the divisional guaranteed slot.
Outside of the fan perspective, seeding isn’t all that important. The Blues need to keep winning for the sake of it.
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There have been too many years in recent memory where the team backed into the playoffs regardless of their seed. Heading into the postseason (assuming they make it) with momentum is paramount as teams have proven in the past that low seeds can make a run if they get hot.
Fortunately for the Blues, they have a pretty hot goaltender themselves. Jake Allen has been on point for just about every game he’s started in the last month or so. He has won seven of his last eight with two shutouts of his own in that time.
Even if St. Louis goes the other way and starts Carter Hutton, he has won five of his last seven. Mix in three shutouts in there and you’ve got a pretty good chance of picking up a win.
St. Louis’ downfall might be the injuries. While they have done a great job of making up for lost players with prospects stepping up, the futility in the faceoff dot might finally catch up to them. St. Louis has to keep the defensive zone faceoffs to a minimum if they cannot find a way to win draws.
It should be a good game and the Blues need to show up big time. Don’t forget that it is an early start with a scheduled 6 p.m. puck drop.
Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started off right.
The Blues will have plenty of centers signed for next season, but the same problem seems to keep coming up. St. Louis doesn’t have a “top line” center to go with Vladimir Tarasenko. There might be a solution to that, but it would involve Doug Armstrong (or another GM) to step outside the comfort zone (just as a warning, the article contains language) (St. Louis Gametime)
Ryan Reaves has long been a fan favorite for his willingness to put the big hit on and drop someone with a haymaker. This season, he switched his focus and became a more all-around player. The team and Reaves himself are better for it. (STLToday)
With the Blues injuries, it put the Chicago Wolves in a bit of a bind not knowing how their roster would look. Now that they have come back to terms on who will be playing night in and out, they are focused on clinching a playoff spot and making a run. (Wolves)
The Penguins and Senators aren’t known for their rivalry, but that may be about to change. The league will not review or suspend Sidney Crosby – because why would you want to sit down the league’s biggest star even if he can be a cheap shot artist sometimes – and that did not exactly sit well with the owner of Ottawa. (ESPN)
They say music is good for the soul. It might be good for the glove hand as well. Apparently there is a link to the neurons that fire for glove hands and eye contracts and the ones used to play an instrument such as a guitar. (NHL)
Have a great day Blues fans!