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GDT Blues vs Coyotes 7:00 Pm Fox Sports Midwest

1 by BillP
For the third game in a row, and the seventh time in the past nine contests, it will be Carter Hutton in goal for the Blues on Saturday night at Scottrade Center against the Arizona Coyotes.

Coach Mike Yeo's stock answer lately has been simply that Hutton deserves another start, and it's hard to argue with that logic given Hutton's recent play. Hutton is 5-0-1 during his current stretch of play, and only in the 4-3 overtime loss Jan. 7 at Washington has he allowed more than two goals.

Although proud of his work and grateful for the opportunities, Hutton said that _ yes _ he's surprised to be getting so much work lately.
"Of course," Hutton said. "It's a ton of games. Right now Mike is making the decision to go with me, but no matter who goes over the boards, Jake's ready to go, I'm ready to go, we're professionals, and I think we show that every day.
"You guys come to practice and see the way we take care of business and prepare and work hard. We're two pros, that's all that matters."

Meanwhile, it will be at least two weeks between games for Jake Allen, who last started in the Blues' 7-4 loss to Florida on Jan. 9 _ their last game before the bye week.
"We're gonna get Jake in at some point for sure," Yeo said. "Jake knows that, and obviously that's an important thing for us. We've gotta make sure that we give him the right opportunity to get in.

"But I think that again, Hutts just deserves this game and I don't want to rush Jake back in. He's getting some good quality work in practice. . .and when he does get in there I'm confident that he'll be ready."

SCHWARTZ ON ICE
Saturday marks six weeks to the day that forward Jaden Schwartz suffered his broken foot Dec. 9 in Detroit. For the first time since the injury, he was on the ice with his teammates in practice during Saturday's morning skate, although his work was limited.
"Both him and (Zach) Sanford, nice to have them both out there," Yeo said. "Talking with Schwartzy, he's getting close. He's looking good. Obviously, Sanny's a little bit further away here but obviously it's pretty exciting, the idea that both these guys could be back in our lineup at some point here."
Sanford is recovering from shoulder surgery and isn't expected to be back until sometime in February at the earliest. But Schwartz is much closer, and although it appears unlikely, Yeo wouldn't rule out the possibility of Schwartz returning before the all-star break Jan. 26-28.
"If he's ready, he's ready," Yeo said. "Obviously, you don't put a guy in a bad position. You don't put a guy with a risk out there of getting hurt. There's always a risk. But obviously, we're not gonna be foolish about that.
"But I think that we've already gotten to the point where we've been pretty careful about things. And now, when he's ready, he's ready."

LINEUP NOTES
Everyone but Jay Bouwmeester skated Saturday morning, and Yeo said that Bouwmeester would be ready to go tonight against Arizona. Based on the lines used during the morning skate, it looks like Yeo is going with the same lines for the third game in a row _ the first time that's happened since the Schwartz injury.
Forwards

Barbashev-Stastny-Tarasenko
Jaskin-Schenn-Steen
Sobotka-Berglund-Thompson
Paajarvi-Brodziak-Thorburn
Defense

Edmundson-Pietrangelo
Bouwmeester-Parayko (*)
Dunn-Bortuzzo
Goalie
Hutton
(*) _ Projected, since Bouwmeester didn't skate Saturday morning. (Carl Gunnarsson was in that spot during practice.)
That would make the scratches Gunnarsson, Scottie Upshall and Oskar Sundqvist.

BRING ON THE COYOTES
The Blues have won 12 straight games against Arizona, tied for the longest active win streak by any team against an opponent in the NHL. Yeo, whose team needed a shootout victory Nov. 9 to keep that streak going, is taking nothing for granted.
"Very aggressive team," Yeo said. "They pressure real hard all over the offensive zone, pressure the net real hard. Their D-men get involved both on the rush and in the offensive zone. We have to be ready for their pressure and we have to be ready for their work ethic.
"I think they have one regulation loss in their last six games. You look at some of the teams that they're beating or taking to overtime _ and even in a couple of those, they probably should've won but teams were able to tie it up late against them.
"So they've been playing real hard. When you watch the video, they're creating a lot of turnovers, they're forcing a lot of mistakes. And they've been capitalizing on them."

Re: GDT Blues vs Coyotes 7:00 Pm Fox Sports Midwest

5 by BillP
39hurricane wrote:The talk on Schwartz makes me crazy. We happen to be playing well and I do not see a reason to bring him back in before the all star break.

Hutton plays until he shits the bed.

Keller really has cooled off. I wonder how long he stays in the desert?
I agree, they should take their time with Schwartz. Too valuable and delicate of an investment to toy with.
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