Blues at Red Wings
THE STORY: For the second time in the last week, the Detroit Red Wings will face the St. Louis Blues on the latter half of a back-to-back set of games. Both times, the Red Wings had to play the first end on the road before heading home to take on the Blues. After winning in Nashville on Monday, Detroit carried that momentum into a 3-2 victory over St. Louis. That momentum won’t be there the second time around after the Red Wings dropped a 3-2 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. The Blues failed to change their momentum on Friday, dropping a 2-1 shootout decision at home to the Predators. That marked back-to-back losses for St. Louis for the first time since Dec. 2-3. The Blues will be looking to avoid their first three-game slide of the season when they visit Joe Louis Arena on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSMW (St. Louis), FSD (Detroit)
ABOUT THE BLUES (21-11-5): St. Louis could have used this week - with two games against Detroit and another against Nashville - as a way to make a statement in the Central Division and possibly put some pressure on the first-place Blackhawks. Instead, the Blues are looking to salvage more than one point from the stretch. St. Louis allowed a pair of third-period goals in Tuesday’s loss to the Red Wings and failed to score through five rounds of Friday’s shootout.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (23-13-1): Detroit was looking to move up this week as well, but can only hope for second place at best after falling to Chicago. The Red Wings held a pair of one-goal leads in the contest but could muster only seven shots in the third period. G Jimmy Howard started in goal on Friday and has played back-to-back contests on five occasions already this season, including once already this week. Should he get a rest Saturday, former Blue Ty Conklin will get the nod.
OVERTIME:
1. St. Louis had taken three straight in the series before Tuesday’s loss.
2. G Brian Elliott, who made 29 saves in Tuesday’s meeting, will likely get the start again Saturday for the Blues.
3. Detroit RW Tomas Holmstrom will sit out again with a groin strain.