Blues at Senators
After winning 10 of their 11 previous contests, the St. Louis Blues look to put an end to a modest two-game skid when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon. The Blues have seen their offense go limp to begin their four-game road trip, as they were shut out in Boston on Thursday before dropping a 4-1 decision to Montreal two days later. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 11th goal of the season versus the Canadiens for his first point since collecting nine tallies and seven assists during a sizzling nine-game stretch.
Bobby Ryan is also starting to heat up as the 27-year-old scored for the second straight contest in Ottawa's 3-2 victory over Nashville on Thursday. Ryan has recorded one point in five of his last six outings overall and has blasted the Blues to the tune of 15 goals and 11 assists in 20 career meetings. Both teams will travel to face a division rival in their next game before reconvening in the Gateway City on Tuesday.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis), RDS (Ottawa), TSN5
ABOUT THE BLUES (12-6-1): While St. Louis briefly has stumbled on the offensive end, coach Ken Hitchcock is more concerned about the team's issues on defense. "To me, unless we clean up our own end, it doesn't matter how many goals we score," Hitchcock said. "So we've got to clean up our own end to start with." Brian Elliott is expected to get the nod against his former team, versus which he boasts a 1-0-1 mark with a 1.94 goals-against average.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (9-5-4): Robin Lehner snapped a two-game losing skid by turning aside 33 shots versus the Predators in his first start since Nov. 9. Coach Paul MacLean publicly praised his goaltender after the contest and has rewarded Lehner with another start against the team he helped defeat on two occasions last season - highlighted by a 46-save performance in a 5-4 win on Feb. 4. Milan Michalek scored in his last contest versus the Blues and has a goal and two assists on his current three-game point streak.
OVERTIME
1. The Senators have yielded a power-play goal in each of their last three contests.
2. St. Louis C Jori Lehtera set up Tarasenko's tally versus the Canadiens and has recorded 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his last nine games.
3. Ottawa saw its originally scheduled contest against Buffalo on Feb. 20 shifted to Dec. 15 to allow the Sabres to host the New York Rangers on that day. The latter contest was intended to be played on Friday before Western New York was engulfed by snow.