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The San Jose Sharks have had a lot of success against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center, winning 10 of their last 14 games there. This isn't the Blues of seasons past, where their home record didn't almost nearly guarantee a victory for the team, but now? With their overtime win Saturday over the Colorado Avalanche, the Blues expanded their franchise best point streak at home to 19 games. They haven't been beaten in regulation at home since December 3rd, a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. While the Hawks are spiraling downward in the standings, the Blues have been able to keep the momentum going. At the start of the game tonight they sit three points behind Detroit for the divisional and conference lead.
Hampering the effort to overtake the wings might be the loss of three top scorers. Alex Steen is still out with a concussion, Jason Arnott is on the IR with a bruised shoulder, and Matt D'Agostini's been placed on IR with concussion like symptoms. Luckily the Blues are getting back a very important piece of the puzzle tonight -- concussed forward Andy McDonald should be making his return. In speaking to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford, McDonald seemed thrilled about his return.
"Everybody from the players to the management to the city is really excited about this team. It was a hard thing watching ... the team having so much success and you want to be out there and be a part of it. Unfortunately I've missed a large chunk of the season, but hopefully we've got a large part left to play. I'm really looking forward to being a part of it."