BLUES AT KINGS
When: Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. CT
Where: Staples Center in Los Angeles
Where: TNT, TNT App
Listen: 101 ESPN, NHL App
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues will get back in action with a four-game road trip that begins Wednesday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The trip will continue in San Jose, Anaheim and Winnipeg.
“I think it’s a really big road trip for us,” said Blues forward Ivan Barbashev. “We’ve got four big games, especially right now when we’ve been winning a lot. (We) just have to continue the same way. I’m really looking forward to (the trip).”
The Blues enter Wednesday’s game with a 6-1-0 record, which as of Tuesday ranked first in the Western Conference.
The team could get Brandon Saad back in the lineup for the first time since a 3-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 20. Saad missed four games while in COVID-19 protocol. The Blues will be without Ryan O’Reilly, Ville Husso and Kyle Clifford, as those players are currently on the non-roster protocol list.
“It’s something we’ve said from the beginning of COVID,” added Blues forward Robert Thomas. “We’re a deep team, we’ve just got to focus on next man up. We’ve got the numbers and the team to be able to handle it.”
KINGS The Los Angeles Kings have won two straight games entering Wednesday’s matchup with the Blues.
The Kings most recently beat the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday when Anze Kopitar netted a goal and an assist and goalie Jonathan Quick made 22 saves for his first win of the season. Buffalo led 2-0 in the second period before Los Angeles scored three unanswered goals to win.
Kopitar leads the Kings significantly in points, posting 13 (seven goals, six assists) in nine games this season.
Los Angeles will be without defenseman Drew Doughty for two months after a knee-on-knee hit against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 22. Defenseman Sean Walker, who was injured on Oct. 25 in St. Louis, will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
HEAD-TO-HEAD Wednesday’s matchup is the final meeting of the regular season between the Blues and the Kings. St. Louis is 2-0 against Los Angeles this season and has outscored the Kings 10-3… David Perron has four goals against the Kings this season, while Torey Krug and Vladimir Tarasenko each have four points in the season series.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Vladimir Tarasenko is on a six-game point streak and has recorded multi-point efforts in three of his last four games. Tarasenko is one of nine players in the League with active point streaks of six or more games. His longest career point streak is 12 games, which he accomplished from Jan. 19-Feb. 17, 2019.
KINGS Alex Iafallo, who has recorded five points (three goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak for Los Angeles.
BLUE NOTES
David Perron is expected to play in his 614th game with the Blues on Wednesday, tying legend Barclay Plager for 11th on the team’s all-time list. Bobby Plager currently ranks 10th with 616 games… Colton Parayko played 28 minutes and 31 seconds vs. Colorado last Thursday, the second-highest regular-season total of his career. His time-on-ice average is up more than two minutes from his previous career high (23:00) in the 2019-20 season… Jordan Binnington is 11-1-3 in his last 15 regular-season starts… Torey Krug has tied the best start to a season in his career with six points through his first seven games… Justin Faulk‘s next goal will be the 100th of his NHL career.
