St. Louis Blues Preseason: What To Watch For Game 8 at Columbus

The St. Louis Blues take on the Columbus Blue Jackets of the Eastern Conference. This is the second time we play Columbus this preseason. In the first matchup, the Blues took a 5-3 win in their first home game of the 2019-20 season.

The St. Louis Blues are in the middle of an encouraging preseason that has them just above .500 at 4-3. In their last game against the Washington Capitals, St. Louis pulled out a 4-3 victory by scoring three-second period goals.

Opponent’s Record

2-3-1

The Columbus Blue Jackets are scuffling a little bit in the preseason, losing four of their last five games. In their last battle, against the New Jersey Devils, Columbus was shut out by Cory Schneider. The 25-year old goalie Joonas Korpisalo played well making 25 saves for a .926 save percentage.

Blue Jacket fans suffered through a tough offseason as they watched Matt Duchene, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Artemi Panarin depart via free agency. Expectations are understandably lower for the Jackets this season.

Blues’ All-Time Record vs Columbus

51-28-3-3

The St. Louis Blues have dominated the Blue Jackets in their 85-game history. They have won 51 of the games and received a point from nearly 64% of the matchups. There were many years where the Blue Jackets were not very competitive, so it makes sense.

Historically, the Blues average 3.11 goals per game and allow 2.65. With the lineup the Blues are putting out tonight, I would imagine it would be business as usual against this gutted Ohio team.

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Players to Watch

Justin Faulk:

Newcomer Justin Faulk made his first appearance in the beautiful Blue note in the last game against Washington. He did not put a point on the scorecard, but he did collect four hits, a blocked shot and was a plus-1.

Paired with Alex Pietrangelo, do not be surprised if he puts up a point or two tonight to go along with the physical play. There is so much to look forward to with our new long-term, first-line defenseman.

Robert Thomas:

This will be the season debut for Robert Thomas coming off of a wrist surgery that cut his Stanley Cup run a little bit short. At 19 years old, Thomas posted 33 points in 70 games and six more points in 21 playoff games.

A winner at every level, Thomas is a vital spark to the Blues lineup on a nightly basis. It is good to see them easing Thomas back into a role this preseason and hopefully he looks healthy tomorrow night.

Mackenzie MacEachern:

Mackenzie MacEachern came up last season and jolted the Blues lineup in the limited time he got. So far this preseason he hasn’t had the same effect.

In four games, he has posted no points, a minus-2 and only three hits. At 25 years old, MacEachern still has time to develop, but I am not so sure it will be on this team with a log jam forming on young, talented forwards.

Goaltending:

Both Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington will be on the roster tonight in Columbus. The Blue Jackets may not be the strongest test for the duo, but they still need to show us that there is no reason to worry about giving up weak goals.

On a side note, Binnington gave up four goals in his appearance against Detroit. Not all of those goals were his fault as he faced several odd-man rushes and tough chances. Still, four goals against is never good to see on the scoresheet. I would imagine there is no issue against this team tonight.

Next. Top 3 Players Who Can Lead The Team In Goals. dark

Tyler’s Take

I don’t expect the Blues to have much of an issue against the Jackets tonight. They have had several strong performers throughout the preseason and, frankly, this Columbus team isn’t all that threatening. St. Louis has strong odds to end this preseason with a road win as they continue to build up momentum heading into the season opener against the Washington Capitals.

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