Tonight, the 6-8-3 St. Louis Blues will host the 8-5-3 Philadelphia Flyers in the first half of a back-to-back. The Blues finally got themselves a win this week, while the Flyers are coming off two consecutive overtime losses as they start a short road trip.
Dylan Holloway
Holloway has goals in his last two games, and a third one tonight would officially make it a streak. The young winger hasn't been quite as dynamic to start the year as he was last season, but the main goal for Holloway should be to stay healthy, as the Blues can't afford to lose him from the lineup.
He's projected to play on the second line, with Jordan Kyrou playing right wing and rookie Dalibor Dvorsky down the middle. It's a youthful trio, and perhaps they can find enough energy to feed off each other and put the Flyers on the backfoot.
Jordan Binnington
That was a heck of a win for Binnington over the Calgary Flames the other day. He stopped 38 of 40 shots on goal, good for a .950 save percentage. If the Blues have any hope of turning this season around, it's going to have to come from the crease.
Binnington and Joel Hofer has been awful, and but they have time to turn things around. After that performance against the Flames, Binnington justifiably gets the nod tonight, which means Hofer will start tomorrow's game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Matvei Michkov
Ok, he's not a Blue, but "know thy enemy" and what not. A 20-year-old star on the rise, Michkov got off to a lousy start this season, but has a goal in each of the last three games.
The Flyers don't generate a lot of shots or offense, instead capitalizing on their high danger opportunities, but Michkov is a threat from anywhere: he can score, he can pass, and he's quite tenacious for a smaller forward. The Blues will have to have him well-marked or face the consequences.