Oilers at Blues
THE STORY: The Ken Hitchcock revival tour continues Thursday night when the St. Louis Blues host the struggling Edmonton Oilers. St. Louis snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotoes on Tuesday night, improving its home record to a dazzling 15-3-2. The Blues weren't exactly playing horribly during their skid, losing twice at Central Division rival Detroit sandwiched around a shootout defeat to Nashville. The Red Wings are the only team with a better home record than the Blues, who are 16-5-5 since Hitchcock took over for fired coach Davis Payne in early November. St. Louis is catching the Oilers at the right time. Edmonton will be playing the sixth of a seven-game road trip and will be without prized rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who will miss his second straight game with a shoulder injury suffering in Monday's win at Chicago.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, RSNE, FSMW
ABOUT THE OILERS (16-20-3): Nugent-Hopkins, who leads all rookies with 35 points, flew back to Edmonton on Wednesday to have his injured shoulder evaluated. It is feared that the No. 1 overall pick might have suffered a separated shoulder. Teammate Taylor Hall, the top overall draft pick in 2010, missed seven games earlier this season due to a separated shoulder. D Tom Gilbert was also hurt against Chicago and is expected to test his knee in a morning skate Thursday.
ABOUT THE BLUES (22-12-5): G Jaroslav Halak has turned things around after a dismal start to the season. Since absorbing five consecutive defeats to fall to 1-6 on the season, Halak has only one regulation loss (7-1-5) in 13 outings. Halak has not tasted defeat in regulation (5-0-3) since a 3-2 home loss to Los Angeles on Nov. 22. Alex Steen, who is tied for the team lead in goals, reportedly failed his baseline concussion test. He has missed the last three games.
OVERTIME:
1. The Blues are 17-1-1 when leading after the second period and 17-0-0 when scoring at least three goals.
2. The Oilers have lost six of the last eight meetings with St. Louis, but won at home 4-2 on Oct. 30.