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Arizona Coyotes vs St. Louis Blues: Game-Time Decisions

By Catherine Silverman

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Arizona Coyotes looking for redemption in rematch with St. Louis

Arizona Coyotes fans are trying very hard to forget about the last time these two teams faced off.

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Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd
Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd /

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    • The first Coyotes-Blues matchup came before the Rieder era; it was right in the middle of the season’s first big slump. Martin Hanzal suffered a pretty significant lower body injury, Sam Gagner was still finding his place on the team, and Brandon Gormley had yet to make an appearance; at that point, the Coyotes were still running with Rob Klinkhammer and David Schlemko.

    A few months — and a few big roster changes — later, the team is poised to put up a bigger fight than last time. The Arizona Coyotes have a new owner, a new lineup, and have won four of their last five games. 2015 is the year to look ahead; the desert dogs have a lot to be motivated over.

    Details for Tuesday night’s game:

    DATE: Tuesday, January 6th
    TIME: 7:00 P.M. (MST)
    LOCATION: Glendale, Arizona
    ARENA: Gila River Arena
    TV INFO: Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports MW

    Projected Line Combinations:

    Forwards:
    Mikkel Boedker – Antoine Vermette – Shane Doan
    Tobias Rieder – Martin Hanzal – Sam Gagner
    Lauri Korpikoski – Kyle Chipchura – David Moss
    Martin Erat – Joe Vitale – B.J. Crombeen
    Extras: Lucas Lessio (per Sarah McLellan), Brandon McMillan

    Defense: 
    Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek
    Keith Yandle – Michael Stone
    Brandon Gormley – Connor Murphy
    Extra: Chris Summers

    Goal: Mike Smith

    Extra Skater:

    – The Arizona Coyotes have had trouble generating consistent offense; the team has been unable to sustain a strong offensive presence over multiple games. The rotation of lines to relegate Martin Erat to a fourth line left wing, promoting Tobias Rieder to the second line and holding out both Brandon McMillan and Lucas Lessio, all support this. The team will need this roster rearrangement to work, tough — this team needs to attack first in order to remain alive against one of the top teams in the West.

    -The St. Louis Blues have struggled lately, while the Coyotes have been on a hot(ish) streak — but if Arizona thinks this will make their job easier, they need to think again. A team fighting to stay in the top of the Central Division won’t allow the Coyotes to run their show; think the matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and the Coyotes for a good example of what to expect. Shut-down defense if the offense can’t be spurred into action; a flurry of goals if they can.

    -Max Domi was named to the 2015 WJC All-Star Team Monday night, was announced as the tournament MVP for Team Canada, recorded three points, and took home a gold medal. All in a day’s work — and speaking of things that rhyme with ‘work’, Sean Burke is back in Arizona.

    –Lucas Lessio’s call-up could mean a number of things. The team could be interested to see if he sparks offense, or he could be around in case of a trade. It’s too soon to read into anything, but expect all eyes to be on the team’s underperforming offensive players. Those would include Martin Erat himself, B.J. Crombeen, and Mikkel Boedker. Don’t expect Kyle Chipchura, Joe Vitale, or Shane Doan to be on the danger list — they’ve all played strong two-way games.

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