Preview: Blues vs. Coyotes

When: Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: Bally Sports, Bally Sports app
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at Ticketmaster.com

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues have had four consecutive days off from game action, giving them ample time to recover and prepare for the second of their three-game opening homestand.

It took shootouts to decide each of their first two games, falling in Dallas to start the season and defeating Seattle in Saturday's Home Opener. The Blues have not played consecutive shootouts since April 2019, just before their run to a Stanley Cup championship.

The biggest story in the Blues' initial games has been the play of Jordan Binnington. Stopping 63 out of 65 shots faced, Binnington leads all NHL goaltenders with more than one start with a .969 save percentage and 0.92 goals-against average.

The Blues will look to ignite their offense in front of Binnington soon, however, as they have scored just one goal in each game and are still looking for their first power-play goal. The upper-body injury to Pavel Buchnevich may present a challenge, with Head Coach Craig Berube calling him "day to day" after practice on Tuesday.

The Blues pick up their pace of games with two home games in the next three nights, against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

They'll host the Coyotes with an early record of 1-0-1, good for three out of a possible four points in the early goings of the season.

COYOTES The Arizona Coyotes - who will have opened their season with four straight road games after Thursday night's tilt - are looking to bounce back from a pair of back-to-back losses.

After an encouraging shootout win over the New Jersey Devils in their Opening Night, the Coyotes fell 2-1 to the Rangers on Monday and were shutout 1-0 by the Islanders' Ilya Sorokin on Wednesday night.

The Coyotes are once again led in scoring by Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, though rookie Logan Cooley is looking to join the fold this year after being selected No. 3 overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Cooley played a promising season at the University of Minnesota (alongside Blues prospect Jimmy Snuggerud) and has three points in the first three games of his NHL career.

Schmaltz and Cooley connected to score a game-tying goal in the third period of their shootout win in New Jersey, with Schmaltz also netting the clinching shootout goal.

After facing the Blues at Enterprise Center, the Coyotes return to Mullett Arena for their own Home Opener on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Coyotes travel to St. Louis with an early record of 1-2-0 as they aim to turn a corner in their rebuild process.

HEAD TO HEAD The Blues went 1-2-0 against the Coyotes last season, with the win coming at Enterprise Center on Feb. 11. They are 2-1-1 in their last four home games against Arizona, and have scored at least five goals in four of the last seven matchups.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Brayden Schenn, looking for his first points as Blues captain. Schenn posted two assists against the Coyotes last year, contributing to his career-high 44 on the season.

COYOTES Clayton Keller, coming off a career-high 86-point season to lead the Coyotes in the early stages of this year. Keller, a St. Louis native, has 24 points in 24 career games against his hometown team.

BLUE NOTES

• The Blues will announce the inductees to the St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame's Class of 2024 at Thursday's game. Last season's inaugural induction saw franchise legends including Brett Hull, Al MacInnis, Bernie Federko, Bob and Barclay Plager and others enshrined in team history.
• Alexey Toropchenko is expected to dress in his 100th career NHL game on Thursday.
• With a point against Arizona, the Blues would earn a point in the first three or more games of the season for the ninth time in franchise history and for the third straight season (franchise record: 5-0-0 to start the 2021-22 season)
• Thursday will mark game No. 998 for Doug Armstrong as General Manager of the Blues. Last season, Armstrong became the longest-tenured GM in franchise history and is also now the longest-tenured active GM in the NHL.