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The St. Louis Blues (17-9-3, 37 pts) enter their next week looking to build more momentum and gain ground on the suddenly-within-reach Chicago Blackhawks (17-8-4, 38 pts).
New York Rangers (16-6-4, 36 pts) -- Thursday, 12/15 at 7:00 PM CST
The Blues welcome the Rangers to town on Thursday and will be looking for any help possible in the scoring department. With just 59 goals allowed on the season, the Rangers sit tied with the Boston Bruins for stingiest defense on the season.
Fortunately for the Blues, the Rangers do not seem to draw many power plays and have been well below average at converting power plays into goals -- welcome news to a St. Louis team that has struggled with killing power plays in 2011.
Nashville Predators (17-9-3, 37 pts) -- Saturday, 12/17 at 7:00 PM CST
The Blues head to Nashville on Saturday, looking to take advantage of an inconsistent Predators team. Led by the young duo of Craig Smith and Patric Hornqvist, the Predators have struggled of late, winning only 4 of their last 11 games.
A team that neither scores nor prevents scoring to great effectiveness, the Predators sport two goalies with almost identical goals against averages -- Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback who both sport 2.50ish GAAs.
Look for the Blues to try to avoid falling into power plays against the Predators, whose one non-mediocre stat is their above-average ability to turn power plays into goals.
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