When: Saturday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at ticketmaster.com
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BLUES The St. Louis Blues (5-6-0) are looking to rewrite the narrative on Saturday when they kick off their five-game homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Blues are coming off a disappointing road trip that started with a 5-1 win in Toronto but concluded with three consecutive losses to Montreal, Ottawa and Philadelphia. Although it wasn’t the result they wanted, Head Coach Drew Bannister was pleased with his teams’ response and performance in the final game of the trip against the Flyers.
"I thought our response [Thursday] was really good by the whole group," Bannister said. "I saw a conservative effort to work in the hard areas. I saw players working for each other. Defensively I thought we played strong. But when you get into these funks, you have to keep your game near perfect to get yourself out of it. That's something that we have to really rely on with our group is making sure that we have all 20 guys on the ice pulling in the same direction.”
The Blues lineup has been tested already this season by injuries. Forwards Mathieu Joseph (injured Oct. 26) and Kasperi Kapanen (injured Oct. 29) and defenseman Nick Leddy (injured Oct. 15) all skated on Friday but are not expected to suit up this weekend for the Blues and remain day-to-day.
MAPLE LEAFS The Toronto Maple Leafs (6-4-1) are coming into Saturday night’s matchup looking for revenge after losing their previous tilt vs. the Blues 5-1. And they'll have a familiar face behind the bench as Craig Berube will return to coach in St. Louis for the only time this season.
Berube will be recognized by the Blues in-game Saturday as he makes his first appearance in St. Louis since his tenure with the team ended. Berube served as the Blues' head coach for parts of six seasons, leading the team to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019. However, after failing to make the playoffs in 2022-23 and starting last season 13-14-1, he was relieved of his coaching duties in December.
Berube finished his tenure with the Blues holding a 206-132-44 record and is the third most-winningest coach in franchise history.
Since the two teams' last meeting on Oct. 24, the Maple Leafs have gone 2-0-1, including recording a key win over Winnipeg to end the Jets' undefeated run this season. Most recently, the Maple Leafs are coming off a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday with two goals from forward William Nylander.