Blues head to Boston for meeting with red-hot Bruins

The Blues dads are on the road for the third time in the last four seasons, and the
Blues have had a lot of success when their dads are in the building
.
Can the Blues keep the momentum going in Boston?
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THE MATCHUP

BLUES Carter Hutton made 33 saves for the Blues on Tuesday in a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens and improved to 8-1-1 over his last 10 starts with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .942 save-percentage.
"It's a product of the team too," Hutton said. "We're playing well. I think I just catch everybody off guard now because I play a few more times a week than I used to. I was playing well once every two weeks. Now it's a big deal… I think I'm the same goalie. I'm just playing more, to be honest, and confident in what I do."
"I think what we're seeing is it's a mixture of confidence and desire to stay in there," Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said of Hutton. "He's doing a great job."
Ivan Barbashev, Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen scored for St. Louis, who won their third consecutive game and improved to 8-3-1 in their last 12 games.
Yeo said Jake Allen will start Thursday against the Bruins
, making his first start since Jan. 9 against Florida.
BRUINS The Bruins fell 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, suffering their first regulation loss since Dec. 14. Boston had collected points in 18 straight games (14-0-4), which was the second-longest point streak in franchise history until Anaheim defeated them Tuesday.
The Bruins were just the sixth team in the last 20 seasons to post a point streak of 18 games or more.
"You know it was something special," Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron told NHL.com. "I think it's been a lot of fun and we've got to keep that going. It's one game, and you've got to realize a lot of things that we've done [well] during that streak. Just to stay focused and keep pushing each other to be better and be at our best every night and go back to that."
Thanks to the recent success, the Bruins have climbed to second in the Eastern Conference standings, posting 66 points (29-11-8) in 48 games. Only the Lightning (71 points) rank ahead of the Bruins in the East.
Former Blue David Backes was forced to leave Tuesday's game after taking a hit up high from Ducks forward Nick Ritchie in the third period. Backes indicated to CBS Sports that he was fine and did practice with the Bruins on Wednesday.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues and Bruins are meeting for the first time this season. The teams split the season series last year, with both teams winning on the road.
The Blues are 8-1-0 in their last nine trips to Boston.

HOT VS. BOSTON

• Jaden Schwartz has a four-game point streak against the Bruins (one goal, four assists).
  - Alexander Steen has four assists in his last four games against Boston.
  - Vladimir Tarasenko has five points in his last five games (three goals, two assists).
  - Alex Pietrangelo has four points in his last five games against Boston (two goals, two assists).
  - Allen is 3-0-0 with a 1.80 goals-against average and a .946 save-percentage in four career starts against the Bruins.

BLUE NOTES

• Alexander Steen will play in his 616th game as a Blue on Thursday, passing Bob Plager for sole possession of eighth on the Blues' all-time games played list.
  - The Blues will play 13 games in 28 days during the month of February (six at Scottrade Center, seven on the road). Eight of those 13 games will come against division opponents, and 10 of 13 will be against teams who currently hold a playoff spot.
  - Brayden Schenn is two points shy of 300 in his career.