When:Thursday, Aug. 6 at 5:30 p.m. CT Where: Rogers Place in Edmonton Watch: FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports GO Listen: 101 ESPN, NHL App
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUESThe St. Louis Blues (0-1-0) will be looking for their first win of the round robin on Thursday afternoon when they meet the Vegas Golden Knights at 5:30 p.m. CT.
After a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in their exhibition game, the Blues found themselves in a 1-1 game against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. A late power play for Colorado led to a buzzer-beating goal from Nadem Kadri, who scored with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. The goal was allowed to count after a lengthy review.
"Its a tough call," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said after the game. "For me, the puck wasn't completely across the line when it said zero. It's a tough call, but that's what I saw.
"We got our game going in the second and played pretty well in the second and third period," Berube added about the 2-1 loss to the Avalanche. "I'm pretty pleased with a lot of it, but we've got to get better, though."
The Blues have a playoff spot locked up because they ranked first in the Western Conference when the NHL season paused on March 12. The round robin games will determine playoff seeding for the top four teams in each conference.
Preview Blues' matchup vs. Golden Knights
The Blues will be without Ivan Barbashev on Thursday. Barbashev flew home to St. Louis for the birth of his first child and is expected back sometime during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In order to return, Barbashev will need four consecutive days of negative COVID-19 tests once he arrives in Edmonton.
In addition, Berube said he might keep Robert Thomas out of the lineup Thursday as a precaution. If Thomas doesn't play, expect Jordan Kyrou to take his spot.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS The Vegas Golden Knights (1-0-0) won a thrilling back-and-forth game with the Dallas Stars in their first round-robin matchup at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Dallas jumped out to a 3-1 lead over Vegas but the Golden Knights rallied with a four-goal third period to earn a 5-3 win.
Max Pacioretty led Vegas with 66 points (32 goals, 34 assists) in 71 games before the season paused but is expected to be out of the lineup with an injury. The Golden Knights ranked first in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference.
Pete DeBoer, who took over behind the bench after Gerard Gallant was released as head coach, is 15-5-2 in 22 games with the Golden Knights.
