Blues at Red Wings
THE STORY: It’s a battle for first place in the Central Division and
Western Conference on Monday when the Detroit Red Wings host the St.
Louis Blues. Detroit extended its home winning streak to 16 games with a
3-2 shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. The
streak ties the 1975-76 Boston Bruins for fourth longest in NHL history.
The Red Wings have 65 points, one more than the Blues, who are tied
with the Chicago Blackhawks but sit in second by virtue of two less
games played. In the conference, the Wings are three points up on the
Vancouver Canucks. To muddy the waters even more, the Nashville
Predators are lurking fourth in the division and sixth in the conference
with 60 points. This is the fifth of six meetings this season, with
each winning their two home contests.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS, TSN2, FS Detroit Plus
ABOUT THE BLUES (29-12-6):
St. Louis concluded its recent homestand with a 4-2 victory over the
Buffalo Sabres. The Blues were 4-0-1 in the five games at home, and only
gave up seven goals in that span. David Backes scored two goals to lead
the offense against the Jackets. St. Louis is 8-0-1 in January, earning
17 of a possible 18 points. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak is 11-0-3 in his
last 14 starts, and has three shutouts in his last five games. “Our
goaltending has been phenomenal,” Backes said. Alexander Steen has
collected three goals against the Red Wings this season while Jason
Arnott has four assists.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (32-15-1):
Valtteri Filppula scored the lone shootout goal in the fourth round
Saturday and Jimmy Howard made 17 saves. Detroit has won six straight
games and is 8-2-0 in its last 10 contests. Pavel Datsyuk has seven
assists in his last five games. Datsyuk, along with Niklas Kronwall, has
a goal and two assists in the season series with St. Louis. Jiri Hudler
has two goals and an assist in the four games with the Blues.
OVERTIME:
1. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has a nine-game point streak.
2. Howard, 29-10-1 this season, is 4-0 in shootouts this year.