The weekend is here! We can all cheer! For the St. Louis Blues, a busy weekend awaits them. They will play twice over the weekend, but there is a bright side to that. Both games are at home, so at least the players and coaches can sleep in their own beds. The Blues’ busy weekend kicks off Friday night as the Philadelphia Flyers are coming to town for a Friday-night fight.
Blues vs. Flyers Preview
The Blues and Flyers meet for the first time this season. Last season, the Flyers won both games against the Blues. The Flyers lead the all-time series, 95-47-17-3.
Time: 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time
TV: FanDuel Sports Midwest, NBC Sports Philadelphia
Blues’ Recent Game
The Blues are 6-8-3 on the season with 15 points. Their last game came on Tuesday, where they defeated the Calgary Flames, 3-2. Jordan Binnington played in his 348th game, passing Mike Liut for the most games played by a goaltender in team history. Nathan Walker scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. At the same time, Oskar Sundqvist recorded two assists in his return to the lineup.
Related: Jordan Binnington May Already Be the Blues’ Best Goaltender of All-Time
Projected Lineup (Subject to Change)
- Pavel Buchnevich – Robert Thomas – Jimmy Snuggerud
- Dylan Holloway – Dalibor Dvorksy – Jordan Kyrou
- Brayden Schenn – Pius Suter – Mathieu Joseph
- Alexey Toropchenko – Oskar Sundqvist – Nathan Walker
- Philip Broberg – Colton Parayko
- Cam Fowler – Justin Faulk
- Tyler Tucker – Matthew Kessel
- Jordan Binnington
Team Leaders
Suter leads the Blues with 10 points. Despite not having played since Dec. 10, Jake Neighbours still leads the team in goals with six. Thomas and Sundqvist are tied for the lead in assists with seven. Tucker leads in penalty minutes with 28. Last but not least, Kessel leads in plus/minus rating with a plus-2.
In goal, Binnington leads the Blues in all major categories. He has four wins, a 3.21 goals-against average (GAA), and a .873 save percentage (SV%).
Flyers’ Recent Game
The Flyers are 8-5-3 with 19 points. The team is on a small two-game losing streak. Their last game saw them fall in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. Jack Roslovic scored the overtime-winning goal for the Oilers. Dan Vladar was the hard-luck loser in net, stopping 29 of 31 shots. Matvei Michkov scored the Flyers’ only goal.
Projected Lineup (Subject to Change)
- Trevor Zegras – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov
- Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
- Owen Tippett – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
- Nicolas Deslauriers – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway
- Cam York – Travis Sanheim
- Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
- Emil Andrae – Noah Juulsen
- Dan Vladar
Team Leaders
Zegras leads the Flyers with 16 points. There is a three-way tie for the team lead in goals, as Konecny, Brink, and Tippett each have five. Zegras leads in yet another category, this time in assists with 12. Tippett shows up again on the list with 20 penalty minutes. The leader in the plus/minus category is another player who is appearing once again: Konecny, with a plus-4.
Related: Flyers’ Trevor Zegras Is Having a Career Renaissance
Between the pipes, Vladar leads with six wins. Aleksei Kolosov leads with a 1.62 GAA and a .929 SV%.
Blues’ Key to Victory
The Blues have struggled to put together a full 60-minute effort. While the team did pick up the win on Tuesday, they only won by one after once leading, 3-0. The second period is where the Blues have had the most trouble. On Tuesday, they gave up two goals in 25 seconds to see their lead cut down to one. This past Saturday, they took a 2-0 lead into the second period, but gave up the tying goal. Of course, Blues fans will not forget losing a 4-0 lead to the Detroit Red Wings in late October. The Red Wings’ rally started in the second period.
The Blues have talent on their roster. There is also experience. There is no reason why the team cannot play a complete game. If they can start to play a full 60 minutes, the wins will start piling up. The Blues will find a rhythm that will make them a tough team to play against.
Flyers’ Key to Victory
The Flyers have struggled to score goals. Four of the last six games have seen them score two goals or fewer. A reason for this is that they are only getting production from a few players. Zegras and Konecny are doing their part, but there is a lack of production from the rest of the roster.
The Flyers rank 29th in the league with just over 2.5 goals a game. Interestingly enough, their power play has been more efficient, ranking 14th in the league. If they can get on the power play on Friday, they can open the door to get on the board more. In doing so, they can get into an offensive groove.
