Blues at Golden Knights
The St. Louis Blues have ventured past regulation on four occasions during their season-high six-game winning streak, with the willingness to work overtime and successful results allowing them to move into the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues look to continue their good fortune on Friday as they open a brief two-game road trip versus the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vladimir Tarasenko has led the way during the sizzling stretch, scoring four times in his last three games and capping Tuesday's two-goal performance with a tap-in 2:33 into overtime of a 3-2 win against San Jose. The 26-year-old Russian has recorded four consecutive 30-goal seasons, becoming the first Blues player to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Brett Hull did so in six straight campaigns (1988-94). First-place Vegas has done quite all right during its inaugural season, although its 7-6-3 mark in the last 16 games has permitted surging San Jose to moved within five points in the Pacific Division. "I want our team to be a solid, 60-minute effort and we haven't had that the last three games," coach Gerard Gallant said after the Golden Knights' 3-2 loss to Arizona on Wednesday. "We've got to pick it up, we've got to get focused, we've got to get ready."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountains (Vegas)
ABOUT THE BLUES (43-28-5): NHL Second Star of the Week Jake Allen has turned aside 95 of 100 shots in his last four games and boasts an 8-1-0 mark in his last nine starts. Brayden Schenn has six points in his last six games (one goal, five assists) and set up a goal in each encounter versus Vegas this season. Captain Alex Pietrangelo scored in a 3-2 setback to the Golden Knights on Oct. 21 and has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last nine games overall.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (48-22-7): Alex Tuch is enjoying a strong surge with goals in back-to-back outings, but the rookie openly lamented his team's sluggish starts of late. "When the opposing team scores first, it's kind of a downer," the 21-year-old Tuch said. "You can't really control emotions sometimes. We were chasing the puck, chasing the game, chasing the score, and we can't do that." Jonathan Marchessault notched an assist against the Coyotes to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, five assists).
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis has allowed an NHL-low 25 goals during its 8-2-1 mark in March.
2. Vegas G Marc-Andre Fleury, who owns a 403-228-70 record, is one win shy of moving into sole possession of 11th place on the NHL's career wins list.
3. Blues D Joel Edmundson will play in his 200th career game on Friday.