By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues are fully aware of who they're getting in the building today at Scottrade Center.
The Blues understand they'll be facing a very angry New York Islanders team, one in which was embarrassed 5-0 at Dallas on Friday, managing only 14 shots in the game and being called out by coach and former Blues center Doug Weight afterwards.
"Maybe some heart would be nice to see, some work ethic, maybe following a gameplan and maybe some consistency as far as getting pucks in," Weight said after when asked what went wrong in the loss. "I don’t know, take your pick."
Not exactly words of encouragement and not words a player wants to hear, certainly.
"It's not fun to hear that from the coach, GM, whoever it is," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "Those guys will be fired up. They've got something to prove. I know they're not happy with their effort as well on the players' side of things."
Blues coach Mike Yeo is aware of what happened to the Islanders, who the Blues defeated 3-2 in a shootout in Brooklyn on Oct. 9.
"Yes, we do," Yeo said. "I know there's a lot of pride inside that locker room. They were challenged pretty hard after the game, so we expect a pretty fiery response from them.
"... It's the National Hockey League, best players in the world, every night you have to be on top of your game."
On the other hand, the Blues (13-3-1), who already set a team record for most wins through 17 games to start a season, can continue that record with their 14th win in 18 games and match the 2013-14 team for most points (29) through 18 games.
The Blues, 9-1-1 the past 11 games and winners of three in a row, started the 2013-14 season 13-2-3 through 18 games.
And the Blues' continued success stems from one aspect.
"I think that we're not satisfied," Yeo said. "That's for me a real important quality for winners and I don't get the sense that anybody here is overly thrilled or overly excited or overly proud of the start we've had. That's not our end goal. Our end goal is to be one of the best, and we want to be the best team in the league. You don't do that by being the best team in October, obviously we've helped ourselves, we've had a great start, but our goal and our mindset is everyday we come back to the rink and try to get better and there's lessons in every game and opportunities in every practice and every meeting to get better and I've seen that from our leaders."
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Tonight's game will mark the sixth time the Blues have faced an opponent playing the second of back-to-back games.
The Blues are 4-1-0 in the five previous situations, with victories over Dallas, Calgary, Carolina and Columbus. The lone loss was to Philadelphia.
"I think we do a good job of making sure we stick with our game plan," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "I don't think we're doing anything special when we're playing teams back-to-back. We stick to our system and I think that that's the key. We're all on the same page, and if we're on the same page, that makes it tougher for teams to generate things. Making it tough for other teams to play against us, especially playing back-to-back can be tough if we're on top of them and playing them hard. That's the key for us."
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The St. Louis Legacy Ice Foundation announced Friday it is now exploring a Maryland Heights location for the St. Louis Ice Center, thereby bringing closure to the original plan for the complex at Creve Coeur Lake Park.
Representatives from the Legacy Ice Foundation and St. Louis Blues today met with and personally thanked St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger and his staff for their vision and commitment to the Creve Coeur Lake Park project, noting that uncertainty due to delays by the National Park Service – coupled with the urgent need for additional ice to answer the demand throughout the St. Louis region – necessitated exploring an alternate, yet very attractive, site in Maryland Heights.
"Our experiences with the National Park Service and the associated delays remain disappointing, but the good news is we have another spectacular site in Maryland Heights here in St. Louis County," Patrick Quinn, President of the St. Louis Legacy Ice Foundation, said in a release. "We look forward to building a complex that we need and deserve. The location changes, but our vision remains the same."
"County Executive Stenger and his staff were superb partners through this entire process and we appreciate their understanding of our need to keep this project on track and on pace," Chris Zimmerman, CEO and President of the St. Louis Blues, said in the release. "Today’s news represents a continuation of our commitment to support youth and amateur ice sports in the St. Louis region, and we are optimistic that it will be located in Maryland Heights, still in St. Louis County, where it can best serve our region. It’s good news all around."
Stenger noted that all commitments to improving the former Creve Coeur Park site are being honored and stated his continued commitment of support for the facility.
"Exploring a new location in Maryland Heights has my complete support, as do the people from the Legacy Ice Foundation and the St. Louis Blues who first brought us the opportunity to imagine what might be possible at the Creve Coeur Lake Park location," Stenger said. "There would only be regret if the project were not to happen at all. But it appears that will not be the case. Be assured that I will offer any assistance I can as we see this project transition from paper to reality."
The four-sheet, regional recreation center will be the home for a wide variety of ice sports, amateur and college ice hockey uses, youth tournaments and the practice facility for the St. Louis Blues. The development effort on behalf of the Ice Center will be led by Summit Development.
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Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has at least a point in 13 of 17 games this season, including a three-game point streak (two goals, four assists).
Blues center Brayden Schenn has a three-game point streak (one goal, seven assists).
Pietrangelo has three goals the past three games and leads all NHL defensemen with seven. He's tied for second (with former teammate Kevin Shattenkirk) for the NHL lead in points with 16. Dallas' John Klingberg leads the NHL with 18.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Vladimir Sobotka-Paul Stastny-Alexander Steen
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitrij Jaskin-Oskar Sundqvist-Magnus Paajarvi
Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Chris Thorburn
Carl Gunnarsson-Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson-Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn-Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen will start in goal; Carter Hutton will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nate Prosser, and Beau Bennett. Jay Bouwmeester (ankle), Patrik Berglund (shoulder) and Zach Sanford (shoulder) are out indefinitely. Robby Fabbri (knee) is out for the season.
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The Islanders' projected lineup:
Anders Lee-John Tavares-Josh Bailey
Brock Nelson-Mathew Barzal-Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd-Alan Quine-Josh Ho-Sang
Jason Chimera-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy-Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan-Scott Mayfield
Thomas Hickey-Ryan Pulock
Thomas Greiss will start in goal; Jaroslav Halak will be the backup.
The healthy scratch will be Dennis Seidenberg. Nikolay Kulemin (wrist), Adam Pelech (upper body) and Anthony Beauvillier (lower body) are out.
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