Goalie Ben Bishop and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking to end a couple of long streaks in Thursday night's game against the St. Louis Blues.
Bishop, a St. Louis native, has not won a game in his homestand since joining the Lightning, going 0-2-1 in his three games in St. Louis since the 2013-14 season. His last win in St. Louis actually came when he played for the Blues, on March 7, 2011.
Coach Jon Cooper did not commit to Bishop getting the start, but he did not play in the Lightning's game Tuesday night in Columbus and is expected to start.
It's been even longer since the Lightning won a game in St. Louis -- Dec. 18, 2009. Overall, the Lightning has lost their last five games against the Blues.
While the Lightning players know that history, they are more concerned with trying to break out of a current slump which has seen them lose their last three games, being outscored by a combined margin of 14-5.
"I'd love to play against us right now in our own end -- it's easy," center Brain Boyle told the Tampa Bay Times after the Lightning lost 5-1 Tuesday night in Columbus. "We've relied on our goalies, they've been phenomenal. They're great teammates because they haven't ripped into us yet for how we're treating them, for how we're defending.
"The worst part is we know how to do it."
Boyle and the rest of the Lightning know their task of ending their slump won't be easy against the Blues, who have won their last five home games and are 8-0-2 in their last 10 home games. They have lost only once in regulation in 13 home games this season.
In their two most recent games, the Blues have allowed a late goal with the opponent's goalie pulled which tied the game before they rebounded to win, once in a shootout and once in overtime.
That is one problem coach Ken Hitchcock wants his team to correct, and he also believes they have taken too many penalties recently, especially in their own offensive zone.
He has a new strategy to try to correct that problem.
"We're not going to talk about that anymore. We're going to use a different approach," Hitchcock said. "It's the disease that we're not going to speak about. We're just going to go out quietly and find a cure. We're not thrilled by it, but the more we talk about it, the more it seems to manifest itself. ... It's in the DNA; we've got to get rid of it. We'll figure out a way."
The Blues could have one new player in their lineup Thursday night. Defenseman Joel Edmundson has been cleared to play after being sidelined since Nov. 6 because of an upper-body injury.
The Lightning also could make a couple of changes to their lineup. The team recalled left winger Michael Bournival and right winger Joel Vermin on Wednesday from the minor leagues.
Blues • The Blues swept the season series with Tampa Bay last season, including a 2-0 win at Scottrade Center, where they haven’t lost to the Lightning since the 2009-10 season. … The Blues have won five straight at home, their longest streak since winning five straight from Dec. 19, 2013 to Jan. 14, 2014. The franchise record for a home win streak is nine, in 1990-91.
Lightning • Tampa Bay has lost three in a row and been outscored 14-5 in that stretch, though the team is seventh in the league in scoring. … Nikita Kucherov is tied for second in the NHL in points with 26 (11 goals, 15 assists). Steven Stamkos has nine goals and 11 assists in 17 games but is out indefinitely with a knee injury. The team has gone 3-4 since he got hurt.
Injuries • Blues — F Alexander Steen (upper body) is doubtful; D Joel Edmundson (upper body) is questionable. Lightning — F Ryan Callahan (lower body) and F Steven Stamkos (knee) are out. D Anton Stralman (upper body) is day-to-day.
The Blues will host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m. tonight at Scottrade Center.
The Blues have won five straight against the Lightning, including the most recent meeting - a 2-1 victory at Amalie Arena on Feb. 14.
Here are some other notable stats for tonight's game:
The Blues have earned at least one point in 10 consecutive home games on home ice (8-0-2) and are 10-1-2 overall at Scottrade Center this season. Their last 10-game home point streak was Jan. 28 - March 27, 2014.
Jake Allen has won six straight games and five straight at home, which is the longest winning streak of his career. Allen is 8-0-2 with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .940 save-percentage on home ice this season. According to Elias, Allen is the first Blues goaltender to earn at least a point in 10 straight home games in one season since Jaroslav Halak, who did it in 2011 (13-0-1).
David Perron extended his point streak to eight games in Monday's 4-3 overtime win against the Dallas Stars. The point streak, which includes three goals and eight assists, is the longest of his career.
Jaden Schwartz is riding a seven-game point streak (five goals, four assists) which is one shy of his personal-best eight-game streak.
Paul Stastny will dress in his 700th career regular season game tonight. He is the third Stastny to play for the Blues, joining his brother, Yan, and father, Peter.
Patrik Berglund has a five-game point streak against the Lightning (three goals, two assists), while Stastny has points in four straight against Tampa Bay (two goals, three assists).
This day in history:
1924 NHL makes its debut in the United States when the Boston Bruins play their first game against the Montreal Maroons at Boston Arena
1930 NHL drops 20 minute slashing-about-the-head penalty
1984 Blues tie their then singe game record for goals in 10-5 win over Red Wings
1988 Blues shutout Islanders 8-0. Still worst loss in Islanders history. This was the 1st of 3 consecutive shutouts by Greg Millen
1996 Wayne Gretzky becomes the first (and still only) player in NHL history to reach the 3,000-point plateau (including postseason)
