Preview: Flyers at Blues

[December 10, 2015]  The St. Louis Blues awoke from their offensive slumber in their last outing and look to post consecutive victories for the first time in a month when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. St. Louis mustered just one goal in each contest of its season-high three-game losing skid before breezing to a 4-1 win over Arizona on Tuesday.

While coach Ken Hitchcock's club has struggled to score, the same cannot be said for Vladimir Tarasenko, who has tallied in back-to-back games and has netted eight in his last eight contests at Scottrade Center. While St. Louis looks to claim consecutive victories for the first time since a three-game stretch from Nov. 4-10, Philadelphia has dropped back-to-back contests following a season-high four-game winning streak. "We deserved better (on Tuesday)," coach Dave Hakstol said following the Flyers' 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday. "Everybody was moving, jumping, playing with tenacity. It's a good formula."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE FLYERS (11-11-6): Steve Mason earned an early exit after yielding three goals on 10 shots versus the Islanders, but was downright stellar despite dropping a 1-0 loss in a shootout in his last visit to the Gateway City on March 12. Mason is expected to get the nod on Thursday versus the Blues, against whom he is 3-0-1 in his last four decisions after losing eight of his first 12 (4-6-2), while Michal Neuvirth will likely get the call on Friday in Central Division-leading Dallas. "This will be a very good challenge for us heading into St. Louis and Dallas," forward Brayden Schenn told CSNPhilly.com. "It's not an easy back-to-back we are going into here."

ABOUT THE BLUES (16-8-4): Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored a goal and set up another versus the Coyotes and has recorded four tallies and 13 assists in his last 12 contests. Brian Elliott will get the nod on Thursday and for good reason, having stopped all 28 shots he faced in the last meeting with Philadelphia to improve to 6-3-0 with three shutouts versus the Flyers. A stingy penalty kill has been a friend to both Elliott and fellow goaltender Jake Allen, as St. Louis has killed off 12 consecutive short-handed situations.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis has failed on all 10 power-play opportunities in the last four games and is 2-for-17 in its last eight.

2. Philadelphia D Radko Gudas is eligible to return after serving a three-game suspension for his hit on Ottawa's Mika Zibanejad.

3. In recognition of his Hall of Fame selection, former Blues and Flyers D Chris Pronger will be honored with a bobblehead on Thursday.

PREDICTION: Blues 2, Flyers 1

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