The St. Louis Blues look to avenge a 4-2 loss against their former rival, the Detroit Red Wings as they square off for the final time this season at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The Blues are currently being held together by duct tape, band-aids, and prayers as they hope to play another 60 minutes tonight and leave unscathed and healthy.
Let’s take a look at the storylines heading into tonight’s matchup.
2 Storylines: Blues (13-8-4)
The Blues Are Playing Shorthanded For Second Straight Game
The Blues are forced to play a man short once more as the team has been at the NHL’s salary cap all season with little to no flexibility. After the team pulled off an unlikely overtime victory over the Florida Panthers Tuesday night, many thought that reinforcements may be coming. However, as the team lost not one, but two players that game due to injury, they are forced once again to juggle salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement regulations. During the game, goaltender Ville Husso left during the third period, and the team lost defenseman Jake Walman to injury as well.
Related: 3 Blues Who Need to Step Up Their Game
The Blues were able to call up Nathan Walker from the Springfield Thunderbirds under emergency conditions, but were forced to sign goaltender Jon Gilles to serve as a backup goaltender for tonight’s game.
“For cap issues, both of our remaining goalies, because of their contracts where their bonuses take them slightly over $850,000, we had to sign somebody that’s making $850,000 or less, so Gillies is playing in the American Hockey League on an AHL contract, so we signed him,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “He’ll be in (St. Louis) tonight and be ready to partner tomorrow with (Charlie) Lindgren and we’ll just take it day by day from there to where Ville is and we’re hoping to get Binnington back early to late next week.”
Blues Still Winning Despite Injuries
The Blues will play host to the Red Wings tonight for the first and only time this season looking to defend their five-game home winning streak. This season, the club boasts an 8-3-1 at the Enterprise Center with a plus-14 goal differential. As injuries, COVID-19, and salary cap complications have been thrown in the team’s way this season, the club has done everything and more to help weather the situation.
2 Storylines: Red Wings (13-10-3)
Youth Leading Red Wings’ Rebuild
It has been a long time coming for Dylan Larkin to receive some much needed support amongst the forward corps and he has finally received some aid. This season, rookies Lucas Raymond, Mortiz Seider and Alex Nedeljkovic have entered the picture and are all considered to be early season Calder Trophy favorites (from ‘2021-22 NHL Awards Watch: Who’s leading for Hart, Norris, Vezina, Selke, Calder?’ ESPN, Dec. 3, 2021). Raymond currently leads Detroit in scoring with 10 goals and 12 assists in 26 games this season, while Seider is fourth on the roster with three goals, 15 assists in 26 games as well. Nedeljkovic is currently leading all rookie goaltenders with eight wins through his first 15 games started, and ranked 19th overall in netminders around the NHL, one position ahead of Blues starting goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Red Wings On A Roll
In their last six games, the Red Wings have a 5-1 record that began with a 4-2 victory over the Blues on Nov. 24. In those six games, Detroit has a combined 16 points totaled between forwards Larkin and Pius Suter, as well as defenseman rookie sensation Seider.
The club has a 4-7-1 road record this season and could look to add another tally to the win column tonight against the shorthanded Blues squad. Away from Detroit, the Red Wings have a minus-16 goal differential, compared to a plus-5 at home.
Players to Watch
St. Louis: Forward Brandon Saad comes into the game tonight with a three-game goal streak and four points in his last five games. With five of the Blues forwards currently sidelined, Saad has seen a shift to the top line with Pavel Buchnevich and Ryan O’Reilly.
Detroit: Goaltender Nedeljkovic is 4-1 in his last five games with a .926 save percentage and 2.39 goals-against average, ranking sixth in the NHL during that timespan.
Projected Line Combinations
St. Louis Blues
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Brandon Saad | Ryan O’Reilly | Jordan Kyrou |
| Pavel Buchnevich | Ivan Barbashev | Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Logan Brown | Brayden Schenn | Oskar Sundqvist |
| Nathan Walker | Dakota Joshua |
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Niko Mikkola | Colton Parayko |
| Torey Krug | Scott Perunovich |
| Marco Scandella | Robert Bortuzzo |
| Starting Goalie |
| Charlie Lindgren |
Detroit Red Wings
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Robby Fabbri | Dylan Larkin | Lucas Raymond |
| Joe Veleno | Pius Suter | Filip Zadina |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | Michael Rasmussen | Adam Erne |
| Givani Smith | Carter Rowney | Sam Gagner |
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Danny DeKeyser | Moritz Seider |
| Nick Leddy | Filip Hronek |
| Jordan Oesterle | Daniel Renouf |
| Starting Goalie |
| Alex Nedeljkovic |
Blues’ Next Game: Saturday Nov. 11 versus Montreal Canadiens (6 PM CST)
