The St. Louis Blues are wrapping up their Pacific Coast road trip against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (Nov. 22) at 8 pm CST after a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 19. On Nov.9, the Blues beat Arizona 2-1 and will have to come out strong against a Coyotes squad that’s gone 2-2-1 in their last five games.
Meanwhile, Arizona suffered a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and is looking to bounce back against the Blues. With this week holding Thanksgiving, the Blues and Coyotes had a chance to rest on Tuesday. Let’s take a look at what to expect going into this matchup.
Head-to-Head in the Standings
The current record for the Blues this season is 9-7-1 in 17 games played, placing them one spot ahead of Arizona in the Central Divison. Arizona has a record of 8-8-2 in their 18 games played, and a victory tonight could benefit the Blues in standings, giving them a chance to hold onto their position at the top eight in the Western Conference. So far between both teams, they are 1-1-0 against each other in the season, with the Blues going into this game at 1-2-0 in their last three games on the road.
Blues Players to Watch For
Pavel Buchnevich has been electric in his five games, scoring seven points with five goals and two assists and scoring a goal in his last game against Anaheim. On the road trip, he’s put up a total of two points in the last three games, both coming from goals. He’s been key to their power play on the road, with one of his points on the road resulting in the power play. He’s been able to get himself back on track since returning from injury last month.
In his last matchup against Arizona, on Nov. 9, Buchnevich scored a point in the 2-1 victory over the Coyotes, assisting Robert Thomas for St. Louis’ second goal at 6:00 of the second period.
Jake Neighbours has improved on offense and will get the bump up to the second, replacing Jakub Vrana for Wednesday night. In the last three games on the road, Neighbours scored two points (two consecutive goals) and was a key goal-scorer in the win over Anaheim. It’s safe to say that Neighbours could be a great power-play option if he keeps up his hot goal-scoring efforts.
On the defensive end, Justin Faulk has been great in the last three games on the road, with two points (two assists). On the road, he played well defensively with four hits and had the most blocks (eight) in the last three games on the road. In 17 games played, having yet to score a goal, Faulk has nine points, all of them coming from assists. He could potentially change that against Arizona.
Blues Players That Need Some Work
Jakub Vrana has been struggling a lot, especially on the recent road trip. He got a healthy scratch by head coach Craig Berube ahead of the game against the Coyotes, his second healthy scratch of the season. In his last five, Vrana has one point, which he scored against the Kings on Nov. 14. All this is a result of his recent performance in Anaheim on Sunday, where he went without a point.
On Sunday, Vrana started on the second line with Brandon Saad and Brayden Schenn, but he was sent down to the fourth line and removed from the power play unit. Vrana finished the game with only 9:43 of playing time, the second lowest on the team that night. For the entirety of the road trip, Vrana went pointless. Through 15 games played, he’s only put up six points with two goals and four assists, which is unexpected considering his status as a major point producer.
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On the other hand, Vrana hasn’t been the only top player struggling on offense, as Schenn has also failed to score a point on the last three games of the road trip; he still has a chance against Arizona to score the 600th point of his career.
In Between the Pipes for the Blues
Jordan Binnington is expected to start the game against the Coyotes after losing his last start against the Kings on the road on Nov.18. Binnington has been decent, to say the least, with a record of 2-2-0 followed by .919 SV%, a 2.61 GAA, and a shutout. He’ll also get his opportunity to start after backup Joel Hofer got the nod in the other two games.
However, with the way Hofer played against Anaheim last game, it’s a close call to say who has been better. Hofer has a better record of 4-2-0 through his six starts, while Binnington leads the team in save percentage and goals against average.
Blues Gameday Notes
As a team, the Blues have a lot of work to do on the power play. In the goalscoring department, there are signs that the Blues need more if they want to finish with a victory against Arizona. Here are some other things to look out for with St. Louis:
- The Blues are eighth in goals against per games played (2.71), allowing 11 goals on their road trip in the West.
- In goals scored per game played, the Blues are 26th (2.71) and only scored five goals on their road trip.
- In the last three games, Blues power play was one for 13 (7.7%)
- Blues are 8-0-0 when scoring the first goal
- On the penalty kill in the last three games, the Blues have allowed only one goal (80%)
They’ll look for the victory in Arizona in order to return home for Thanksgiving and play the Nashville Predators on Friday.