NBC will continue its coverage of the 2014-15 campaign when the Detroit Red Wings host the St. Louis Blues at Joe Louis Arena at noon p.m. ET today. In addition to NBC, you can also watch the game and pre-show online.
The St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings don’t clash anywhere near as often with Detroit now in the Eastern Conference, yet it’s probably safe to say that the teams - and especially the fans - still can’t stand each other.
Both squads should have added motivation this afternoon because they both need to steady themselves. Each team has lost two in a row, with the Blues needing to shrug off a lopsided loss to Minnesota and the Red Wings also dropping six of their last eight.
St. Louis is currently 2-1-1 on a six-game road swing that concludes in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The Red Wings begin a four-game homestand in Detroit today.
The Red Wings beat the Blues 3-2 in OT the last time these two teams met (on Jan. 15). Pavel Datsyuk was the player who scored the game-winner, and he won’t play today, according to MLive.com’s Ansar Khan.
Jake Allen saw some action after Brian Elliott was unceremoniously pulled from yesterday’s Blues loss, so one would think that Allen will start. Jimmy Howard seems likely to play in Detroit’s net.
Elliott on facing Detroit: "Going into that rink with that atmosphere and the history that’s in there - it’s going to be another battle."
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 22, 2015
While the Red Wings aim to stay sharp with their position as the third-ranked team in the Atlantic Division fairly well set, the Blues hope to earn a little breathing room in their race to take the Central Division crown from the Nashville Predators.
The two former division foes will meet for the second and last time today, so expect quality over quantity on NBC.