Blues at Flyers
The St. Louis Blues continue their quest for a division title when they wrap up their road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. St. Louis is surging toward the top of the Central as it has earned points in seven of its last 10 games (6-3-1) to climb within four of first-place Nashville with two games in hand. The Blues have been idle since Sunday, when they dropped to 2-0-1 on their five-game trek with a 6-5 shootout loss at Vancouver in which they rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period.
Philadelphia remains hopeful of qualifying for the postseason, as the club trails Boston by five points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers are 1-0-1 on their three-game homestand after falling on the road to Carolina and Toronto - two of the weakest teams in the East. Sean Couturier and defenseman Mark Streit scored in the third period Tuesday as Philadelphia rallied from a two-goal deficit before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Calgary.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE BLUES (40-18-5): St. Louis is expected to debut two of its three deadline-day acquisitions in Olli Jokinen and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo. Jokinen, who was obtained from Toronto after appearing in a whopping six games with the Maple Leafs, will be playing for his 10th team since being drafted third overall in 1997 by Los Angeles. Blue-liner Zbynek Michalek, who came over in a deal with Arizona, remains sidelined with a concussion.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (27-25-12): Philadelphia will have to wait for its lone addition at the trade deadline to hit the ice. Defenseman Radko Gudas, who was acquired in the trade that sent Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay, still is recovering from knee surgery and will not be available until May at the earliest. The 24-year-old Czech recorded two goals and three assists in 31 games with the Lightning before getting injured.
OVERTIME
1. The Flyers are 3-0-2 in their last five home games.
2. St. Louis is 4-0-1 in its last five contests on the road.
3. Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux registered his 300th career assist Tuesday.