A preview of the Blues.
When and where: 7 p.m., Mellon Arena.
TV: Versus, TSN2.
Record: 3-2-1, 7 points. The Blues are in 10th place in the Western Conference and third place in the Central Division.
Leading Scorer: Keith Tkachuk (right, with Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere), 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists).
Last Game: 5-0 road shutout of the Ducks, Saturday. Former Penguins goaltender Ty Conklin made 26 saves in the win. Fire Ray Shero.
Last Game against the Penguins: 6-3 home loss, Nov. 1, 2008. Miroslav Satan had a goal and two assists for the Penguins who ended a three-game losing streak.
Blues Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Paul Kariya. He has 21 points (7 goals, 14 assists) in 15 career games against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Blues: Ty Conklin, G; Ville Siren, amateur scout; Darryl Sydor, D.
Ex-Blues on the Penguins: Bill Guerin, RW; Brent Johnson, G; Jay McKee, D.
Useless Blues Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Three men have at various times served as the coach for both the Blues and Penguins: Lou Agnotti, Bob Berry and Scotty Bowman.
Best Blues YouTube Video We Could Find: This video is awfully fuzzy, but here's St. Louis' Mike Crombeen beating Penguins goaltender Greg Millen in the second overtime to give the Blues a 4-3 series-clinching win in Game 5 of the preliminary round of the 1981 playoffs:
Notes:
-Marc-Andre Fleury (7-0-0, 2.10 GAA, .922 SV%) is expected to start for the Penguins. The Blues have not decided between Ty Conklin (2-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .949 SV%) or Chris Mason (1-2-1, 2.73 GAA, .904 SV%).
-For the Penguins, defenseman Ben Lovejoy (shoulder) and forward Maxime Talbot (shoulder) are on injured reserve.
-For the Blues, forward D.J. King (thumb) will not play. Defensemen Eric Brewer (knee), Barrett Jackman (ankle) and forward Alexander Steen (wrist) are on injured reserve.
-After being set loose by the Blues in the offseason, Jay McKee is fitting in fine with the Penguins.
-Tonight is a "Hockey Fights Cancer" awareness night at Mellon Arena.
-The Penguins are 9-2-1 in their last 12 games against the Blues at Mellon Arena.
-Assuming the teams don't meet in the Stanley Cup final, the Blues will be making their final appearance at Mellon Arena. The Blues, who joined the NHL along with the Penguins in 1967, have a record of 23-35-13, including playoffs, all-time at Mellon Arena.
-Stupid Television Contract Alert: Because of the NHL's decision to put its national television presence in the hands of a gopher-hunting network owned by a souless pit of despair otherwise known as Comcast, DirecTV customers will not be able to watch tonight's game through traditional means. Heck, lots of regular cable customers can't watch the game either simply because Versus isn't available to begin with. Anyway, if you're a DirecTV customer, please make alternate plans.
-Cheap Tickets Alert: Tonight is a Student Rush game.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Posted
Oct 20 2009, 02:10 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh