First Post: Gameday for the Blues 1/6/10

The Blues begin their west coast road trip tonight in San Jose when they face-off against the Sharks, the second best team in the Western Conference.

The Blues, coming off of a 4-game losing streak at home, hope to continue their success on the road and string together some wins.

With the firing of Head Coach Andy Murray and the promotion of Davis Payne to take over the position, the Blues are looking to play a new game.

After the past three practices with Davis Payne, the players sounded optimistic about this new style of aggressive fore-checking, rough offensive zone play, and a quicker transition game from their defensive end. They are looking to fight tooth and nail with one of the best teams in hockey right now and show them that they are still in it to win games.

The Blues go into their building posting a road record of 11-4-3, one of the best in the league, however, the Sharks post an intimidating home record of 13-3-5 to counter.

Any way you look at this match-up, it will be a good hockey game and a very physical one at that. Expect a lot of hitting, fighting, and crashing around the net from both teams.

My Prediction:

The Blues are a young team looking to impress their new head coach. They have been given the nod to get creative offensively and trust each other. They have been told to play with passion for the game and each other. With this new style, geared towards offense, I foresee the Blues playing one of their best games of the season tonight and posting a victory after a hard fought game with the sharks. Keep in mind that this team really doesn't have much to lose at this point because they are so far back in the standings. Also a lot of players like Colaiacovo, Steen, etc are playing in their contract years and a future spot on the team is not certain for them unless they start producing. The young talent like Oshie, Berglund, Perron and Johnson are all competing for more ice time and are going to have to come with their "A-game" to impress the new coach.

The game starts at 9:30 CT on Fox Sports MidWest (Channel 37 or 792 in HD).

Keys to the game for the Blues:

-Quick transition game in our own end
-Smart defensive plays to disrupt the opposing offense
-Strong goaltending
-Good puck movement and unpredictability on the Powerplay
-Cut back on taking bad penalties

Injury Report:

-Paul Kariya is traveling with the team on the road trip but is not expected to play due to the concussion-like symptoms he is experiencing. He will most likely be evaluated by the doctors to see if he can be inserted into the lineup. He remains as day-to-day on the injured reserve list.

-Keith Tkachuk was hit with a puck in the mouth in the last game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 2. He lost several teeth and underwent surgery. He skated with the team in the last practice but the decision was made for him to stay in Saint Louis and not travel with the team to recuperate from the injury. He has been placed as day-to-day on the injured reserve list. Yan Stastny was called up from the Peoria Rivermen to fill his spot on the lineup for the roadtrip.

-Ty Conklin does not have an injury but his son suffered one. He opted to remain in Saint Louis to tend to his family matters and is expected to rejoin the Blues on the road trip. Prospect Ben Bishop was called up from the Peoria Rivermen to fill the backup goaltender role until his return to the lineup.

-Barret Jackman had the flu but is expected to play during the road trip.