Blues at Maple Leafs
The St. Louis Blues attempt to halt a two-game skid as they wrap up their road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. St. Louis began its five-game trek with 2-1 victories at Winnipeg and Edmonton before falling to Vancouver in a shootout on Sunday and losing a 3-1 decision in Philadelphia four nights later. Jaden Schwartz scored in the first period to open up a lead for the Blues, who allowed three goals in the third to drop to 25-2-2 when leading after 40 minutes.
Toronto returns to Air Canada Centre for a three-game homestand after going 1-3-0 on its four-game road trip. The Maple Leafs were shut out in each of the first two contests on their trek before edging Florida on Tuesday, but they were unable to earn a split as they suffered a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay two nights later. St. Louis posted a 3-0 victory in the opener of its two-game series with Toronto on Jan. 17, as Alex Steen recorded a goal and an assist while Brian Elliott made 27 saves for his third blanking of the season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CBC (Toronto)
ABOUT THE BLUES (40-19-5): Olli Jokinen will make his debut for St. Louis on Saturday against the team from which he was traded. The 36-year-old Finn will be suiting up for his 10th NHL team since being drafted third overall in 1997 by Los Angeles. Jokinen began the campaign with Nashville and was dealt to Toronto in mid-February before being shipped to St. Louis at Monday's trade deadline after only six games with the Maple Leafs.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (26-34-5): Joakim Lindstrom, who was acquired from the Blues for Jokinen, was kept off the scoresheet in each of his first two games with Toronto. David Booth scored one of the Maple Leafs' two goals Thursday, ending a 31-game drought. The 30-year-old, who has topped the 20-goal plateau three times in his career, had not tallied since Dec. 16 against Anaheim.
OVERTIME
1. The Blues are 8-0-2 in their last 10 road meetings with the Maple Leafs, who haven't beaten St. Louis in regulation at home since Feb. 4, 1998.
2. Toronto has allowed 11 power-play goals in its last nine contests.
3. St. Louis is four points behind Nashville for first place in the Central Division but leads third-place Chicago by only two.