Blues seek third straight win when Rangers visit
ST. LOUIS -- When coach Ken Hitchcock looked at the schedule his St. Louis Blues faced to start the season, he just was hoping for the best.
The Blues had to open with back-to-back Central Division games in Chicago and at home against Minnesota before hosting the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
"This is a hellacious start to the season," Hitchcock said. "I think we understand how critical the start to the season is and how important your competitive level in your first 10 games at home matters. You get behind the eight ball and don't have a winning record at home early, you're not going to be able to catch up.
"We knew we were opening up with three games in four nights against really tough teams. The Rangers are a heck of a team. We knew we had to get points in at least two of these games."
St. Louis took care of that goal with a 5-2 win in Chicago and a 3-2 victory Thursday night over the Wild, which featured a goal and an assist from right winger Nail Yakupov, acquired in a trade from Edmonton just five days before the season opened.
It's the first time the Blues have begun the season with consecutive wins since they opened the year 4-0 in 2013-14.
Yakupov, the first overall pick in the 2012 draft who had not played up to those lofty expectations with the Oilers, is hoping to make more contributions to his new team as he settles in to his new surroundings.
"This organization got you for some reason, right?" said Yakupov, who had only eight games out of the 250 he played for Edmonton in which he registered both a goal and an assist. "They didn't just take you for luck or something.
"I know this is a good team. I haven't been on a team all my life that was a really good team. This is a great opportunity to grow your game and grow as a person. When you are moving even from house to house you have to get used to your new house, but I'm happy."
The Rangers come into Saturday's game off a season-opening 5-3 win at home over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Their lineup featured seven new players, and five of them recorded at least one point in the victory.
"A lot of guys played with a lot of jump," said goalie Henrik Lundqvist. "There was a great energy in the room. We had a stretch in the third where obviously we just have to manage the puck a little bit better with odd man rushes.
"That's how you get hurt in this league. That's how we got hurt a little bit last year. If we just clean that up, we are in good shape."
After number one goalie Jake Allen won the first two games for the Blues, Hitchcock said backup Carter Hutton, who signed as a free agent over the summer, will start against New York.
