It is hard to designate a game in the middle of January as a must-win game, however for the St. Louis Blues, that is what this season has come to.
The St. Louis Blues had a chance to get within three points of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference against the worst team in the NHL and did not capitalize.
Unfortunately, what comes next for the Blues is a must-win game before the Blues go on their bye week, in addition to the NHL All-Star Game. Before the start of play today, the Blues sit five points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the final playoff spot in the West.
Anaheim Ducks (5th Place In Pacific)
Record: 21-20-9
Last 10: 2-5-3
Season Series: ANA Leads 1-0
Point Leaders: Ryan Getzlaf (32), Adam Henrique (27)
The Anaheim Ducks are on a freefall right now. They are coming off an 11 game losing streak that ended just over a week ago, and are selling off quite a few of their players. They do, however, still have some players that can beat you.
John Gibson was having a Vezina Trophy-like season before his team fell off the face of the earth, and Blues fans know all too well how much Getzlaf has been a thorn in the Blues side over the past handful of seasons.
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The Blues will be getting some reinforcements for tonight’s late start against the Ducks.
The team announced this morning that both Tyler Bozak and Zach Sanford have been activated from injured reserve and will return to the lineup tonight for St. Louis.
The addition of these players to the roster resulted in Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan being sent down to San Antonio.
Head coach Craig Berube did not use either of the Jordan’s very much during their stint in St. Louis, with has been a reoccurring theme for the interim head coach. Agree with his philosophy or not, Berube clearly favors veteran talent over youth.
With the infusion of Bozak and Sanford to the lineup, it means that there will be a variety of lineup changes for St. Louis. Bozak will take over the second line center spot and will play alongside Jaden Schwartz and Alex Steen.
Schwartz and Brayden Schenn have not played on different lines in quite some time for St. Louis. Schenn will be playing on the first line with Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko, and it will be an intriguing line to watch.
Sanford, meanwhile, will slot into the third line with Oskar Sundqvist and Pat Maroon, leaving the fourth line to feature MacKenzie MacEachern, Ivan Barbashev, and Sammy Blais.
The offense for the Blues will not be the only group that features changes. Joel Edmundson will be reinserted into the lineup and will play on the third defensive pairing with Vince Dunn.
Carl Gunnarsson has gotten a promotion to the top defensive pairing and will play with Alex Pietrangelo while Jay Bouwmeester will play with Colton Parayko on the blue line.
Rookie sensation Jordan Binnington garners yet another start in goal tonight and will face the Ducks for the first time in his career. The decision to sit Jake Allen once again is a perplexing one.
I understand the struggles that Allen has had recently, however, if you want him to be your number one goalie for the remainder of the season, then you need to start playing him on a regular basis again.
St. Louis has a chance to go into the break on a high note. They will need to put their lackluster performance against Los Angeles behind them and start making up ground in a mediocre conference before some of the teams ahead of them start to figure it out.