Blues at Hurricanes
The St. Louis Blues appear to be over a rough patch and will continue their pursuit of first place in the Central Division when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. St. Louis has bounced back from a 2-4-0 stretch by rattling off three straight victories, including a 3-0 win over New Jersey on Tuesday that avenged a 7-1 beating by the Devils one week earlier. The Blues trail Chicago by two points for the division lead but have four games in hand.
The Hurricanes were on a roll until absorbing a 3-0 loss at Montreal on Tuesday that snapped a four-game winning streak. Due to a snow postponement at Philadelphia on Jan. 21, a revamped schedule had Carolina playing five games in seven days. "We seemed to be out of gas a little bit," captain Eric Staal said after the sluggish performance against the Canadiens. "You never want to use that as an excuse, but we have played a lot of hockey here. If we were really feeling good and jumping, we would have had a little bit better of an attack."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN (Carolina)
ABOUT THE BLUES (36-11-5): The return of leading goal-scorer Alex Steen from an 11-game absence due to a concussion has helped to re-invigorate St. Louis. Steen already had matched his career high of 24 goals before he was hurt at Edmonton on Dec. 21 and has not missed a beat with three tallies and four assists during a five-game point streak despite battling a nagging injury. "He is a very dynamic player,” coach Ken Hitchcock said. “For him to get to the elite level where he was before, I think he just has to learn to get back to the right balance between reward and risk.”
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (24-20-9): Injuries have caused a quandary in goal for Carolina, with Cam Ward missing the last 13 games after sitting out 10 earlier in the season and Anton Khudobin sidelined for more than 2 1/2 months before returning in early January. The team activated Ward from injured reserve on Thursday and sent him to Charlotte of the American Hockey League for a conditioning stint. "It's important that he go down and play a couple of games with Charlotte," coach Kirk Muller said. "The opportunity to go down there and play will get him in a good mind set."
OVERTIME
1. Jaroslav Halak, coming off his fourth shutout of the season, will get the start in net for St. Louis.
2. Hurricanes F Alexander Semin, who had a six-game point streak halted at Montreal, has six goals in his last seven contests.
3. The Blues beat Carolina 4-2 in November, but the Hurricanes have won four of the last five matchups at home.