Game Notes: Feb. 18 at Buffalo

The Blues enter today's game riding a five-game road win steak and a six-game streak overall. St. Louis is poised to build on that success as they face a Buffalo team that they have dominated for some time. The Blues' 4-1 win over the Sabres back on Nov. 15 added to their nine-game win streak against them. In that stretch, the Blues have outscored the Sabres 30-9. Going back further, the Blues have lost just twice in their last 21 matchups with the Sabres while allowing two or fewer goals 18 times in that stretch. What's more, the Blues have totaled seven wins over their last eight outings against Eastern Conference competition this season.

What to Watch

St. Louis' five consecutive road wins have helped vault them from ninth in the West to sixth. The goaltending is to blame for the recent surge as Jake Allen has won four in-a-row and five of his last six games overall, while Carter Hutton has won five of his last six road starts, including each of the last two in shutout fashion. The Blues will look to perpetuate that trend against a Buffalo team that ranks 25th overall in goals-per-game (2.41) and 28th in goals-per-game at home (2.36). Neither Allen nor Hutton have ever lost to the Sabres, each posting a 4-0-0 record against them in their careers.

Milestones

David Perron - 3 shy of 400 games as a Blue / 4 shy of 100 goals as a Blue
Paul Stastny - 2 shy of 100 PIM as a Blue
Kyle Brodziak - 1 shy of 400 career PIM
Carl Gunnarsson - 8 shy of 100 career assists
Kevin Shattenkirk - 10 shy of 300 career PIM / 1 shy of 200 assists as a Blue
Jori Lehtera - 4 shy of 100 career points
Alexander Steen - 2 shy of 800 career games / 6 shy of 400 points as a Blue
Jay Bouwmeester - 3 shy of 300 games as a Blue
Ryan Reaves - 5 shy of 400 games as a Blue
Jaden Schwartz - 7 shy of 200 career points / 6 shy of 300 career games

Quick Hits

• The Blues' six-game win streak is tied with Washington for the longest active in the league
• St. Louis' three shutouts this February are more than six different teams have had all season (ARI, CAR, NJD, PHI, DAL, FLA)
• Since the beginning of the 2014-15 regular season and including postseason play, Vladimir Tarasenko leads the NHL with 89 even strength goals
• The Blues penalty killers have gone 21 for 21 under Mike Yeo
• Since joining the Blues, Kevin Shattenkirk (129) trails Erik Karlsson (140) by just 11 for the league lead in power play points among defensemen despite the fact that he's played over 500 fewer power play minutes than Karlsson

50th Anniversary Throwback Note

On this day in 1978, Barclay Plager coached his first game for St. Louis, a 4-3 Blues win over the Canucks in St. Louis. Plager replaced Leo Boivin, and helped the Blues end their team-record 12 game winless streak (0-10-2)