St. Louis Blues (6-9-4, 16 Pts) at Toronto Maple Leafs (8-9-2, 18 Pts)
Venue: Scotiabank Arena
Date: Tuesday, November 18
Time: 7:00 pm EST
TV: TSN4/TVAS
Radio:
St. Louis – KMOX 1120
Toronto – SN 590
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
St. Louis +1.5 ML -245
Toronto -1.5 ML +200
O/U 5.5
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St. Louis Blues News & Notes:
The St. Louis Blues come into tonight’s matchup looking to find their way back into the win column, as they look to turn their poor start to the season around. The Blues will look to improve their defensive structure and hope to have the puck get past their goalies less often, as the team has allowed more goals against than any other NHL team. The Blues have some younger players in their lineup looking to carve out NHL roles and find their place in the league, and sometimes that can cause defensive errors, but the team will look to quickly turn things around if they want to find themselves back in the playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs News & Notes:
The tensions have been high in Toronto as the Maple Leafs are winless in five straight games. The injury bug seems to have greatly affected the Leafs, but more than that, they have not played well defensively or moved the puck effectively. The game Saturday against Chicago showed some signs of life, but the Leafs are going to need a much more consistent and full effort to change their trajectory. The Leafs need to execute at a higher level, as they are also near the top of the league in goals allowed, even though they are scoring at a high rate.
St. Louis Blues Projected Lines
Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Suter-Dvorsky-Bjugstad
Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Walker
Broberg-Parayko
Fowler-Faulk
Tucker-Kessel
Binnington
Hofer
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Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Robertson-Tavares-Nylander
Knies-Domi-Cowan
Maccelli-Quillan-McMann
Joshua-Lorentz-Jarnkrok
Rielly-Ekman Larsson
Benoit-McCabe
Mermis-Stecher
Woll
Hildeby
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Toronto Hockey – Inside The Rink
Players To Watch:
St. Louis Blues
Justin Faulk will be the center of attention tonight for the Blues as he skates in his 1,000th career NHL game. Faulk has had a successful career, and 1,000 career games is yet another impressive milestone. Faulk has recorded 468 points in his 999-game career so far, and this season has 10 points in the 19 games he’s skated in. Faulk has been a key member of the Blues, joining the team in 2019-20, and will be celebrated both tonight and back at home, likely on November 28th or 29th, as the team is on a long road trip. Look for the Blues to rally around Faulk tonight to try and find their way back into the win column.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Troy Stecher has had a long career with many stops along the road, and the newest adventure begins tonight against the Blues as he begins his tenure with the Leafs. Stecher has had some familiarity with many players on the team, having played with Tanev, Maccelli, and being the same age as Morgan Rielly, so the transition to the Leafs may be smoother than most new players joining a team. The transition to the Leafs systems will take time, and he joins the team in the midst of their struggles, but with something to prove, Stecher will look to be part of the solution for Toronto. Stecher will look to move the puck effectively, with clean first passes out of the defensive zone.
Injury Report:
St. Louis Blues
F Jake Neighbours – Out (Lower Body)
Toronto Maple Leafs
F Auston Matthews – Out (Upper Body)
G Anthony Stolarz – Out (Lower Body)
D Chris Tanev – Out (Upper Body)
D Brandon Carlo – Out (Lower Body)
F Scott Laughton – Out (Upper Body)
F Nicolas Roy – Out (Upper Body)
Next Game
St. Louis – November 20 at Philadelphia Flyers
Toronto – November 20 vs Columbus Blue Jackets
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