BLUES Despite a major opportunity to tie the score late, the St. Louis Blues came up just short in their comeback efforts in Minnesota on Tuesday night.
Down 2-1 midway through the third period, the Blues were looking at a four-minute power play thanks to a double-minor high stick by the Wild’s Matt Boldy. Unfortunately, the Blues’ power-play struggles – though seeing improvement as of late – resurfaced and they were unable to convert.
Minnesota eventually scored a breakaway goal to put the game away, winning 3-1 in their first game under new Head Coach John Hynes.
Though he didn’t end up with the win, Jordan Binnington delivered another strong start with 34 saves – even dealing with some equipment issues early on. Binnington shares the NHL lead this season with the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin at 10 games with at least 30 saves.
The Blues return home for one game on Thursday, hosting the Buffalo Sabres on a four-game win streak against Eastern Conference opponents. Afterwards, they head back West to begin December in Arizona and Vegas.
They’ll face the Sabres with a record of 11-9-1, worth 23 points and fourth in the Central Division.
SABRES After a promising season by their young roster last year, the Buffalo Sabres are still looking to find their footing as they hope to end the longest playoff drought in the NHL.
Off to an inconsistent start and facing an injury to Tage Thompson, the Sabres are slowly building momentum with a 3-1-1 record over their last five games.
In the midst of a run of seven out of eight games played on the road, the Sabres are coming off a 5-1 win over their in-state rival New York Rangers on Monday night. Buffalo had a 2-1 lead midway through the third, eventually able to pull away with an Alex Tuch goal and an empty-netter by Casey Mittelstadt.
Mittelstadt’s three points led the Sabres’ win on Monday, building a five-game point streak and giving him the team lead with 20 on the season.
Visiting the Blues for the third of a four-game road trip, the Sabres travel to Carolina after Thursday’s game before returning home to host Nashville and Detroit.
The Sabres head to St. Louis with a record of 10-10-2, worth 22 points and sixth in the Atlantic Division.
HEAD TO HEAD The Blues went 0-2-0 against Buffalo last year, but won their previous three games. The Blues are 6-3-1 in their last 10 overall against the Sabres and 9-1-0 in their last 10 matchups at Enterprise Center.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Torey Krug, expected to dress in his 200th game as a Blue on Thursday. Krug has three assists in his last three games, as well as 19 points in 27 career matchups with the Sabres.
SABRES Rasmus Dahlin, who leads the Sabres defensemen with 18 points this season. Dahlin shares eighth in the NHL in points by a defenseman, fresh off signing an eight-year contract extension worth $88 million.
BLUE NOTES
- At 4-0-0 against Eastern Conference opponents this season, the Blues are the only team in the West without a loss of any kind to the Eastern Conference
- Colton Parayko is expected to move ahead of Chris Pronger for sole possession of sixth on the Blues’ all-time leaderboard for games played by a defenseman – he will also be just one shy of 600 appearances in the Blue Note
- Despite the fewest times shorthanded in the NHL this season (53) the Blues’ six shorthanded goals share the League lead
- The Blues’ 46 goals in the month of November ranks 4th in the NHL, only trailing the League-leading Avalanche and Canucks by six goals
- After not recording a point in his first 10 games this year, Torey Krug has nine in his last 11 games
- Jordan Binnington is 10 games away from matching Grant Fuhr for No. 4 on the Blues’ all-time leaderboard for games played by a goaltender
