The Bruins will try to bounce back from Saturday night's 2-1 loss to Washington when they take the ice at the Garden tomorrow for a MLK Day matinee with the St. Louis Blues. Both teams enter tomorrow afternoon's game coming off hard fought losses. The Blues dropped an overtime battle to their Central Division foe, the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. These two teams last met back on December 21st in St. Louis in a game that saw the B's down the Blues 6-3.
Just who are these Blues that you speak of?
St. Louis Blues 17-23-4; 38 pts ( 5th in Central, 15th in West)
Leading Goal Scorers
Goaltending
Guys Who Like to Drop the Gloves
Cam Janssen: 12 Fighting Majors
B.J. Crombeen: 7 Fighting Majors
Brad Winchester: 5 Fighting Majors
'08-'09 Season Series
Bruins' record vs. Blues this season: 1-0-0
12/21 @ STL 6-3 W
Injury Report
Boston
LW Marco Sturm: IR (Knee)
D Andrew Ference: Doubtful (Broken Tibia)
C Patrice Bergeron: Doubtful (Concussion)
LW Milan Lucic: Doubtful (Shoulder)
D Aaron Ward: Doubtful ("Charley Horse")
D Dennis Wideman: Probable (Knee)
St. Louis
LW Keith Tkachuk: Questionable (Head)
C Yan Stastny: Out Indefinitely (Broken Thumb)
LW Paul Kariya: IR (Hip)
D Eric Brewer: IR (Upper Body)
C Andy McDonald: IR (Broken Ankle)
D Erik Johnson: IR (Knee)
LW D.J. King: IR (Shoulder)
D Roman Polak: Out Indefinitely (Fractured Foot)
Notes:
- Dennis Wideman sat out today's practice due to knee discomfort after taking a hit from Alex Ovechkin last night. Claude Julien indicated that Wideman will probably play tomorrow.
- The Blues where bit once again by the injury bug. Defenseman Roman Polak went down with a fractured foot. The Blues have called up defenseman Steve Wagner from the Peoria Rivermen to fill in for the injured blueliner.
- I would expect Manny Fernandez to get the nod in goal considering he hasn't seen game action since January 8th. Fernandez is 7-2-2-1 lifetime vs. the Blues with a 2.08 GAA and .932 Sv%.
- St. Louis' NHL team may be last in the Western Conference, but the city is still #1 in something.
- The Blues have struggled on the road this season (6-14-1)
- A look at how the Boyes-Wideman trade has worked out for both teams. Since the trade:
Brad Boyes: 67 Goals, 46 Assists, 113 Points, -22
Dennis Wideman: 22 Goals, 46 Assists, 68 Points, +24
I thought the B's gave up on Brad Boyes way too early. I absolutely hated this trade when it was first made. As much as I would love to see Brad Boyes still wearing the spoked-B, Dennis Wideman is a big part of the Bruins success this season and has proven to be the defenseman that the Bruins organization thought he would become.
- For more on the Blues, check out St. Louis Game Time
Today's Obligatory Embarrassing YouTube Fan Video