Season series: St. Louis Blues goalie Martin Brodeur's 690th NHL victory came against the Florida Panthers in a 4-2 victory on Dec. 8. Brodeur made 32 saves and left wing Chris Porter had a goal and an assist.
Blues team scope: After a day off Friday, the Blues held a full practice at BB&T Center on Saturday. Goalie Brian Elliott, who made 26 saves in a 6-3 victory Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, will start. No lineup changes are expected. "We put a lot of energy in against Tampa," coach Ken Hitchcock said after practice. "It was good the guys got a break here, get some energy because we pretty much go back playing every second night starting [Sunday]. To get this type of break is good." The Blues have won five straight against the Panthers since the 2009-10 season and are 7-3-1 with two ties in 13 career games at BB&T Center. Defenseman Barret Jackman will tie Brian Sutter for second place on St. Louis’ all-time games played list with 779. Bernie Federko is No. 1 with 927.
Panthers team scope: Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for clipping Stars center Tyler Seguin in the third period of a 2-0 loss Friday, was offered an in-person hearing by the NHL Department of Player Safety, which the defenseman accepted according to reports. It means Kulikov can receive more than a five-game suspension; he will not play Sunday. The Panthers recalled defenseman Shane O'Brien from the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League. They held an optional skate Saturday. "We have a really tough matchup against St. Louis," defenseman Erik Gudbranson told the Miami Herald. "We know how good they are." Defenseman Willie Mitchell (upper body) and center Brandon Pirri (upper body) were placed on injured reserve. Mitchell is retroactive to Feb. 3 and Pirri is retroactive to Feb. 10.
There are only three coaches with more wins than Ken Hitchcock, who has the St. Louis Blues playing at the top of their game.
A matchup against the Florida Panthers could help them stay hot.
St. Louis goes for a third consecutive win and sixth in a row over the Panthers as these teams meet in Sunrise on Sunday.
The Blues (36-15-4) have compiled the NHL's best record since the beginning of January, going 14-2-1 over their last 17. They picked up another two points and Hitchcock earned career win No. 693 to break a tie with Dick Irvin on the all-time list in Thursday's 6-3 victory at Tampa Bay.
Alexander Steen had a goal and two assists while David Backes and T.J. Oshie added one of each, leading St. Louis to its sixth road win in seven tries.
"I thought we did a good job of jumping on them early," Steen told the league's official website. "The big thing is we're skating and moving to get open and that's what's generating the seams to make these passes and generating opportunities."
Related Stories
Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny and Dmitrij Jaskin also scored for the Blues, who were off Friday before going through a full practice Saturday.
"We put a lot of energy in against Tampa," Hitchcock said afterward. "It was good the guys got a break here, get some energy because we pretty much go back playing every second night starting (Sunday)."
St. Louis should like its chances of continuing its surge against Florida after taking five straight in the series by a combined 21-4 score. The Blues won 4-2 in this season's first meeting Dec. 8.
Brian Elliott is expected to be back in net after making 26 saves against the Lightning. Elliott has posted a 1.67 goals-against average in winning three consecutive starts versus Florida, though only one of those appearances has come since 2011-12.
The Panthers (24-19-11) return home looking to jump-start their offense after totaling one goal in back-to-back defeats. They were shut out for the first time since Oct. 13 in Friday's 2-0 loss at Dallas.
"I wouldn't say we didn't generate offense but we didn't generate great scoring chances," said coach Gerard Gallant, whose team outshot the Stars 37-28. "But hey, we worked hard and we competed and we got some good chances. I liked our game."
Al Montoya finished with 26 saves, but the Panthers could turn back to Roberto Luongo, who has allowed two goals in each of his last four starts, going 2-1-1.
Luongo, who stopped 24 of 27 shots in the Dec. 8 loss, is 2-3-1 with a 2.32 GAA in his last six starts against the Blues.
The Panthers will be without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who is suspended indefinitely pending an in-person hearing with the NHL's department of player safety for clipping - and injuring - Stars forward Tyler Seguin.
Getting back home could be key for Florida, which has scored 14 goals during a 3-0-1 stretch there.
The Panthers haven't defeated St. Louis since a 4-0 win Oct. 31, 2009.
Blues defenseman Barret Jackman is set to tie Brian Sutter for second place on the team's all-time games played list with 779. Bernie Federko holds the record with 927.
Stastny has seven goals and 14 points in 10 career games against Florida.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
That is an odd start time considering tomorrow's the holiday, not today. I could get a mid-afternoon tilt on Presidents Day for sure. Something else happening in Miami tonight that they don't want to compete with?
glen a richter wrote:That is an odd start time considering tomorrow's the holiday, not today. I could get a mid-afternoon tilt on Presidents Day for sure. Something else happening in Miami tonight that they don't want to compete with?
Nothing happening in Miami tonight. There isn't even an event at the BB&T Center until Tuesday, which is just wrestling. No idea why it's a 5pm eastern start time. Heck, the Heat are in the middle of a 9 day off break.
Official LGB sponsor of Robert Thomas 2022-2023 Season
glen a richter wrote:That is an odd start time considering tomorrow's the holiday, not today. I could get a mid-afternoon tilt on Presidents Day for sure. Something else happening in Miami tonight that they don't want to compete with?
Had zero idea that tomorrow was a holiday. Since it's not a holiday for me, I much prefer today's early start to one tomorrow.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
Official 2021-2022 LGB Sponsor of Torey Krug
Official 2021 LGB Sponsor of Brayden Schenn
Official 2018-2019 LGB Sponsor of Jaden Schwartz
2018 LGB Playoff Challenge Champ
Official 2017-2018 LGB Sponsor of Vladimir Tarasenko
Official 2016-2017 LGB Sponsor of Scottie Upshall
Official 2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Kevin Shattenkirk
PGABluesFan wrote:It's a shame we have the Two worst goalies in the NHL according to many Facebook fans
2015-2016 Official LGB Sponsor of Jaden Schwartz (IR) & The Hockey Gods
2014-2015 Official LGB Sponsor of T.J. Oshie
2013-2014 Official LGB Sponsor of Kevin Shattenkirk
2012-2013 Official LGB Sponsor of Ryan Reaves
2011-2012 Official LGB Sponsor of Vladimir Tarasenko
2010-2011 Official LGB Sponsor of Vladimir Tarasenko
“Our goalie was our best player, the fourth line was the best player, see you tomorrow,” said coach Ken Hitchcock in postgame comments that lasted two seconds.
Sums it up. As Blues fans, we're always looking for a goalie who can steal a game. Well, Ells has done it a couple times lately and he's make some big saves to do so. On the flip side, stick tap to Luongo because he was equally as good. We were lucky to sneak out of South Florida with a win.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
The parts of the game I got to watch (most of 1st, small part of 2nd), it def looked like the Blues were generating lots of quality chances, but just getting stonewalled by Luongo. It's good that in a game like that, we can say "OK, well our goalie is just gonna do the exact same thing to you, so whatever"
drwoland wrote:The parts of the game I got to watch (most of 1st, small part of 2nd), it def looked like the Blues were generating lots of quality chances, but just getting stonewalled by Luongo. It's good that in a game like that, we can say "OK, well our goalie is just gonna do the exact same thing to you, so whatever"
Those are the best games if you ask me.
Both teams generating a lot of good scoring chances, but both goalies are standing on their heads. Good stuff.
Stats like that always scare me.
