LGD: Ending The Blues

Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY SPORTS

Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Stars was disgracefully bad. I’m mad at myself for even mentioning it. But with that mess in mind, the Leafs are heading into the Scottrade Center in St. Louis looking to pull away from back-to-back regulation losses and get back to picking up standings points in a late-night match against the Blues.

Toronto Maple Leafs lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

All the lines are shuffled. Ryan Fancey wonders if the Leafs should take further advantage of that. Ben Smith is back, and Frederik Gauthier has headed back to the Marlies. Morgan Rielly may or may not be back; we’ll know for sure in a few hours. This is a really different lineup, but we’ll see how it works.

St. Louis Blues lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

The Blues are shaking things up in a much bigger way today. Ken Hitchcock was fired yesterday, and Mike Yeo is the new bench boss in his place. You know St. Louis is going to have an emotional game in reaction.

Oh, and Kevin Shattenkirk gets to face his definitely maybe future team.

Frederik Andersen starts in goal for the Leafs. He gave up three of eight against the Stars, but everybody was terrible in that period and the goals he gave up were high-danger chances. Thankfully, he got the mercy pull rather early, and with Curtis McEhlinney not faring much better, you’d have to assume he’s gotten some extra mental and physical rest.

Jake Allen took some time off to hit his own mental reset button recently, and his return.. didn’t go so well on Tuesday. He gave up four goals on 23 shots. We’ll see how he does in his first game under Yeo tonight.

Toronto’s starving for points, the Blues are starving for redemption. Both teams are of similar calibre, and both need this game. Honestly, this could go any sort of way; a 1-0 shootout win/loss, a blowout, or maybe even just a regular hockey game. Puck drop for this one is at 9:00 PM.