Blues at Lightning
The St. Louis Blues found their offense in South Florida and look to complete a sweep of their trip to the Sunshine State when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. St. Louis, which had managed just 10 goals in its previous seven contests, recorded a 5-3 victory Friday over the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers.
“The biggest difference was the flow from our back end through our center into our wingers,” Blues forward Alex Steen told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It was more of a connected game than we’ve played in a long time.” St. Louis is third in the Central Division after going 3-1-1 since the All-Star break and will need another sharp effort against the Lightning, who have won 11 of their last 14 contests - and nine straight at home. Captain Steven Stamkos rescued Tampa Bay with a final-minute power-play goal en route to a 4-3 overtime win over Nashville on Friday that snapped a two-game slide. “It’s nice to get the win,” Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop, who grew up in St. Louis and started his career with the Blues, told reporters. “We’ll clean some things up, but all that matters right now is the points.”
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE BLUES (31-17-9): Jaden Schwartz returned to the lineup Friday after missing almost two months with a broken ankle, notching a goal and an assist in the victory. “I felt pretty good,” Schwartz told reporters. “I tried not to think about it too much, just go out and play, move my feet early and try to get into the game as quick as I could.” Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the second time in three games Friday to push his team-leading totals to 27 goals and 49 points - just ahead of Steen (44 points).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (30-20-4): Versatile forward J.T. Brown impressed with his defense in the playoffs last season and has followed that up with a career-high seven goals in 2015-16 – three in his last five games. “He deserves everything he’s getting,” coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “You can’t ask for more effort and tenacity than that kid’s giving.” Stamkos, who scored for only the second time in 11 games Friday, is tied with Nikita Kucherov for the team lead in goals with 22 but trails the Russian (47) by five points for first on the club.
OVERTIME
1. Both teams will be without a top-four defenseman as Tampa Bay will be missing Jason Garrison (lower body) while Alex Pietrangelo (knee) is out for the Blues.
2. Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman played a season-high 27 minutes, 50 seconds on Friday and has registered six points and a plus-4 rating in five games since the break.
3. St. Louis has won the last four meetings, including a 6-3 triumph at Tampa Bay last season and a 2-0 victory at home on Oct. 2.