Preview: Blues at Maple Leafs

[February 09, 2017]  The St. Louis Blues have returned to their stingy brand of hockey under the watch of Mike Yeo, with the club surrendering just one tally in the new coach's debut against the Toronto Maple Leafs before answering a loss with back-to-back shutouts. The Blues look to continue their strong play away from home on Thursday when they play the third contest of a five-game road trip versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's two games," Yeo said of St. Louis moving into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference following a convincing 6-0 rout of Ottawa on Tuesday. "This was an opportunity for us to build off the last game and the attitude from the drop of the puck was outstanding. ... Obviously, a good result (Tuesday) and now we've got to get ready for a new test on Thursday." While the Blues have recorded four shutouts en route to winning five of their last seven road games, they showed their mettle at home last week with a 5-1 triumph over Toronto. Rookie Mitch Marner (team-leading 46 points) scored the lone goal in that tilt for the Maple Leafs and has seven points (three goals, four assists) during his five-game point streak.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), Sportsnet Ontario (Toronto)

ABOUT THE BLUES (27-22-5): Much-maligned Jake Allen is slowly turning it around, recording 26 saves in the initial encounter with Toronto as part of a 2-1-0 mark with a 1.34 goals-against average and .954 save percentage. Paul Stastny is succeeding in a much bigger sample size, scoring two goals and setting up another versus the Maple Leafs as part of his 17-point (eight goals, nine assists) stretch in 16 games. Linemate Vladimir Tarasenko, who has six goals and an assist in his last seven contests, tallied twice against the Senators and also scored versus Toronto.

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (25-17-10): Top overall pick Auston Matthews has scored in back-to-back contests to extend his point streak to three games (two goals, three assists). "Just not getting ahead of ourselves, not cheating for offense," Matthews said of the team's attention to detail after scoring his club-leading 25th goal of the season and sixth game-winning tally on Tuesday. Fellow forward Nazem Kadri has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 16 games, although he was held off the scoresheet in the previous contest versus the Blues.

OVERTIME

1. Toronto C Tyler Bozak, who set up Marner's goal in the first encounter with St. Louis, is riding a five-game point streak (one goal, four assists).

2. Blues F Alex Steen has eight goals and 12 assists in his last 19 contests.

3. Maple Leafs G Frederik Andersen has been ravaged for 16 goals in his last three games, although he skated away with a 1-1-1 mark.

PREDICTION: Maple Leafs 3, Blues 2

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