The St. Louis Blues are crawling their way up the Central Division standings. They're 7-6-1 on the season and 6-4-0 in their last ten games, good for 15 points. That's technically a wildcard spot, as they've played two fewer games than the San Jose Sharks and have the tiebreaker with the Nashville Predators (both of whom also have 15 points), but that doesn't matter in the first week of November--they'll need to keep winning to lock down a playoff berth come April. This week, the Blues play three games on the road before coming home next week.
@ New York Rangers, 11/3
It's going to be a long season for the New York Rangers, who've gone 3-6-1 in their last ten games. They lost all-star goaltender Igor Shesterkin early on, and backup Joonas Korpisalo hasn't returned from season-opening injured reserve yet, either. Credit to 24-year old Dylan Garand, then, who stepped in and helped carry the team for a stretch--but it looks like he's been flagging, having lost his last four starts in regulation with an .845 SV% and 3.80 GAA. The Blues are the road team, but they've got a good shot of taking this game if they show up on time and continue to get shots on net.
@ New Jersey Devils, 11/5
While Connor Hellebuyck may no longer be in the Central Division to torment the Blues, they'll meet him once again when they play the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. The Devils have started to act like the contending team they've pretended to be over the last few seasons, and adding arguably the best goaltender in the world considerably bolsters their chances of making some noise in the postseason. They're second in the Metropolitan Division with a 9-5-0 record, and are 7-3-0 in their last ten games. The Devils are strong at home, too, with a 6-2-0 record, so the Blues will have their work cut out for them with this one.
@ Nashville Predators, 11/7
The Predators are the classic example of a team's record looking better than it is because of so-called "loser points" obtained from getting a game to overtime: they're 5-4-5 on the season but tied with the Blues in standings points. The wheels may be starting to wobble, though, as they're 3-3-4 in their last ten games--and it could get worse from there, as general manager Chris McFarland has spoken to veteran players about the possibility of trades if the season starts poorly. They did make one trade already, though it was basically a swap of two young players who could use a fresh start. Regardless, the Blues have to win these four-point division games when they can to cement themselves as a playoff team; Nashville shouldn't present too much of a problem.
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