St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Blues Hope To Avoid Filibuster

The St. Louis Blues return home to the friendly confines of the Scottrade Center. They look to increase their winning streak to three and take down an Eastern Conference playoff contender.

The St. Louis Blues are back at home and trying to keep things rolling. After that dreadful loss to Los Angeles, they finally banded together for solid wins out west against San Jose and Anaheim.

Not only did the team pick up the victories, but they took their opponent down. The Blues did not just squeak by, they actually beat those opponents with some conviction.

Even more impressive is where it happened. Whether it is the time difference or the opponent or a combination, the Blues just never seem to play well on the west coast. They did just that and got a big confidence boost.

Now they return to the friendly confines of a home locker room and home cooked meals and family. Things don’t get a lot easier though as the Blues take on the Ottawa Senators.

Anyone looking at the standings will probably wonder what I’m talking about since Ottawa is not currently in the playoffs. They are only three points behind St. Louis though.

The Senators are fighting for their playoff lives. It might be January, but these are the times when playoff teams make their push so as not to leave it for the end of the year.

So, the Sens are not going to be a pushover. They are 5-4-1 in their last 10 and looking to get that further above .500 to push back up toward the Eastern Conference wild card race.

Conversely, the Blues are looking to reverse their recent trend at home. They ended December and began January with a long home stand and could only trade victories with losses for the most part.

Now, they have a chance to rebuild that fortress wall they had placed around the Scottrade Center. If we get a performance like they gave against the Sharks and Ducks, there should be no problem. Of course, we know you can never depend on that.

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The goaltending position is up in the air now. Jake Allen is still the starter and any suggestion otherwise is just someone showing their naivety about the position. However, Carter Hutton has earned an extended streak if the Blues want to give it to him.

It would be fantastic to push this win streak to three and four and more. However, as much as we love our Blues, they might not be built for extended streaks even when playing at their best.

Call it the Show-Me stater in me, but until I see it, I’m not sure I can believe it. We always root for the team to win, but until the W is in their back pocket, it’s never safe to say that will win.

Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day stared off right.

In case you missed it, the Blues placed Brad Hunt on waivers in an attempt to return him to the AHL. Now the Blues wait until 11 am today to see if they lose him for nothing the way they did with Ty Rattie. (Bleedin’ Blue)

As fans, we always expect the best from our team and therefore its leaders. Doug Armstrong always gets a lot of guff for his moves or lack thereof. However, whether you believe it is a sign of weakness or a bit of foresight, the Blues general manager apparently knew going into the season that this team would have a lot of ups and downs. (STLToday)

Another in case you missed it. Tyler Bozak is not exactly a sexy name in the market, but he might be a good fit for the St. Louis Blues and their needs up the middle. The issue is always who you have to give up and you might be more likely to swing a solid deal in the Blues favor if he is involved. (Bleedin’ Blue)

In a sneak peak at what is in store for the Blues on Thursday, the Washington Capitals lit the lamp plenty of times on Monday. The problem for them was so did the Pittsburgh Penguins. The two teams combined for 15 goals in one game. (NHL)

It was not all smiles and sunshine for Pittsburgh though. They might have won the battle, but not the war as they lost one of their key back side players. Kris Letang is on IR now. (ESPN)