Just the facts
When: Today, 4 PM
Where: Enterprise Center - St. Louis, Missouri
How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival SBN site: St. Louis Gametime
Know your enemy
- 32-23-5, 69 points, 3rd in the Central Division
- Ryan O’Reilly: 24G-39A-63PTS; Vladimir Tarasenko: 27G-25A-52PTS; Brayden Schenn: 11G-28A-39PTS
- Jordan Binnington: 13-2-1, 1.75 GAA, .931 save percentage
Game notes
- It is Streaking Showdown Saturday! The Blues and Bruins are both on great runs. The Blues have won 10 of 11, with their lone loss coming their last time out against Dallas. The Bruins, as you know, have now won 7 in a row. ONE MUST GO DOWN.
- The Blues are in the midst of quite a turnaround. Craig Berube’s group was second-last in the NHL when he took over, and now they’re in pretty solid playoff position. The Blues were probably better than their record indicated when Berube took over for the fired Mike Yeo, but what he’s gotten out of the team is impressive.
- Arguably the biggest part of the Blues’ turnaround? Jordan Binnington, the man between the pipes. The rookie netminder (he played one game in 2016, but he’s still a rookie) has been on fire. He won nine starts in a row before the loss to Dallas and has numbers that are out of this world. A hot goalie can win you a playoff series, sure, but a hot goalie can also get you to the playoffs to start with.
- Speaking of Binnington, he was once in the Bruins organization, though not technically part of it. Binnington was on loan with Providence last season, as the Blues didn’t have an AHL team. He was great, earning an AHL All-Star nod.
- Brayden Schenn, once a rumored target of the Bruins, missed the Blues’ last game with an upper-body injury. As of Friday night, no word on whether or not he’ll be ready for Saturday.
- Today is the beginning of Coylemania, with Charlie Coyle set to make his Bruins debut. The Weymouth kid will center the third line, with wings TBD.
- Trent Frederic, a St. Louis native, had a suite lined up for family and friends...and then got demoted. Tough. A good dude though: Frederic donated the suite to St. Louis Special Hockey.
- Today marks the end of what’s been an almost unimaginably great road trip for the Bruins. When the B’s left for this trip around Valentine’s Day, they were 3 points behind the Leafs. Now, they’re 4 points ahead of them.
- This will be the Bruins’ last game before the trade deadline, so get a good look at this lineup. There could be reinforcements by the time the Sharks skate into town on Tuesday.
See ya this afternoon!