• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Hitchcock's Blues host Lightning

Nov 12, 2011 - 4:17 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues have managed to pick up a point in both games under new head coach Ken Hitchcock, who now becomes the next bench boss to tackle the Tampa Bay Lightning's much-talked about defensive scheme.

The Blues continue their five-game homestand this evening against a Lightning club looking for a fourth straight victory.

St. Louis made the move last Sunday night to fire coach Davis Payne after a 6-7-0 start. The Blues then picked up a 3-0 win over the Blackhawks in Hitchcock's debut on Tuesday to begin their residency before dropping a 3-2 shootout decision to the Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Jason Arnott and Patrik Berglund both scored for St. Louis, which failed to solve Toronto netminder Ben Scrivens on its three attempts in the shootout. Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves, but gave up the breakaway session's lone tally to Phil Kessel.

The Blues lost for the fourth time in six games overall.

"It's one of those points that you've got to say is a good point, but it's disappointing when you've got a team on the ropes like that and you didn't get a chance to bury them," Hitchcock said.

Hitchcock, a former head coach of the Blue Jackets, will have a familiar face on his blue line tonight after St. Louis acquired Kris Russell from Columbus on Friday for defenseman Nikita Nikitin.

The 24-year-old Russell was a third-round pick by the Blue Jackets in the 2005 draft and has 79 points in 288 career games. He had a goal and an assist in 12 games with Columbus this season.

"Kris brings dynamic speed and will add a new dimension to the left side of our defense," said Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.

The Lightning became a topic of news and social media outlets on Wednesday after their game with the Flyers turned into a chess match of sorts. With Tampa Bay using a 1-3-1 scheme -- leaving one defenseman way back in its own zone while not putting any pressure on Philadelphia at the other end -- the Flyers at times during the first period simply held the puck in their own end while waiting for the Lightning to attack.

That brought about several stoppages from the referees and many boos from the fans in attendance.

The game eventually opened up a bit, with Marc-Andre Bergeron scoring in the third period to force overtime and rookie Brett Connolly netting the game- winner at 2:30 of the extra frame in a 2-1 Tampa Bay victory.

"We've seen teams try all different things against our setups and every team's got their own systems that they play and teams try to break them whatever way they can. That's part of the game," said Tampa Bay's Dominic Moore.

Dwayne Roloson needed to make only 14 shots in the Lightning's season high- tying third straight win -- all past regulation -- and seventh in nine games. The 14 shots allowed through regulation was a season-low for Tampa Bay.

"I like the patience in our game," Lightning head coach Guy Boucher said. "It tells me the guys are buying in."

Tampa Bay is 3-4-2 on the road this year and just 3-9-1 all-time in St. Louis, though the club has won its last two trips there. The Lightning won the lone meeting between the teams last year at home to move to 4-0-1 in the past five encounters.