Preview: Blues at Lightning

[October 14, 2017]  Gracenote

Two teams off to strong starts look to take another step forward as the Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to remain unbeaten at home Saturday night when they host the St. Louis Blues. The Lightning moved to 3-0-0 at Amalie Arena with one-goal wins over Washington and Pittsburgh this week while injury-hampered St. Louis won its first four contests before losing 5-2 at Florida on Thursday.

Tampa Bay has posted 18 goals - third in the league through Thursday - in four games, but allowed an average of 37.5 shots for the third-most in the league in the same span. "Those two teams, the Capitals and Penguins, are both teams we've had a lot of trouble with in the past couple years," Lightning left wing Alex Killorn told reporters after recording four of his team-high six assists Thursday in the 5-4 win over Pittsburgh. "To get two wins at the beginning of the season against them in front of our home crowd, it's huge momentum-wise. We want to keep going, keep building." The Blues, who end a four-game road swing Saturday, gave up at least 38 shots for the third time in five games Thursday and finally paid the price as Florida recorded five consecutive goals after opening the scoring. "For me, we've got a chance to have a really good trip or a so-so trip" St. Louis coach Mike Yeo told reporters. "The next one is a big one. It's always going to be about how we respond."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)

ABOUT THE BLUES (4-1-0): Vladimir Tarasenko has three goals in five games, but the All-Star wing accumulated just 12 shots in the early going and was a minus-3 in Thursday's setback. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo continued his strong start with a pair of assists against Florida and leads the team with eight points and 24 shots on goal in the early going while left wing Jaden Schwartz is second with seven points. The Blues recalled 21-year-old Samuel Blais on Friday and sent fellow forward Tage Thompson, a former first-round pick who had zero points in three games before being scratched Thursday, to San Antonio of the American Hockey League.

 

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (3-1-0): Captain Steven Stamkos (six points) scored his first goal of the season Thursday and leads the team with 17 shots while linemate Nikita Kucherov has scored four times in four contests. Defenseman Slater Koekkoek, who played just 3:09 in his season debut Monday against Washington, scored his first two NHL goals in the win over Pittsburgh while logging 9:44. "Last game was tough against Washington. I'm happy we got the win, but sitting there is not always easy," Koekkoek told reporters after his 43rd NHL contest. "I was just happy to get somewhat of a regular shift and be part of shutting them down late in the game."

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis C Paul Stastny, who posted a power-play goal Thursday, needs one point to reach 600 in his career.

2. Stamkos needs one power-play goal to pass Vincent Lecavalier (112) for first on the franchise's all-time list.

3. The Blues have won six of the last seven meetings, but dropped a 5-2 decision in their last visit to Tampa Bay.

PREDICTION: Lightning 5, Blues 2

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