Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues: Q and A with Arch Authority

The Dallas Stars look to get back to their winning ways as they return to American Airlines Center to take on the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. Earlier this week, we checked in with St. Louis guru Patrick Karraker at FanSided’s Arch Authority to get a little insight and find out what those pesky Blues are up to this season.

1. The Blues started out 0-2-1 against playoffs teams from last year, and 2-1-0 against non-playoff teams. However, they got the stink of last year’s playoffs off of themselves by beating the Blackhawks on Saturday night.  How do see that win affecting the team’s trajectory?

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PK: The Blackhawks win was definitely a momentum booster. I think more than anything, though, the biggest thing for this team will be getting as many players as possible healthy and contributing once again. In addition to Paul Stastny, who’s missed the last three games and counting, and Carl Gunnarsson, who’s going to be making his season debut in Dallas thanks to a longer-than-expected recovery from offseason hip surgery, the Blues have been dealing with a team-wide bacterial infection that has been around dating back to their West Coast road trip in the season’s second week. It’s slowly making its course, and the players who seem to be at serious jeopardy of having to sit out Tuesday are enforcer Ryan Reaves (who scored Saturday) and sharpshooter Vladimir Tarasenko. Obviously the Blues are hoping that it will pass soon enough, but until then the Blues are going to be decimated, either by way of missing players or simple fatigue, on a nightly basis.

2. After a disappointing partial season in St. Louis, goalie Ryan Miller left for Vancouver and left the door open for Brian Elliott to assume the starting job. What are your early impressions of the club’s goalie situation?

PK: The goalies have been at least very capable to start the year, and at times great. The blueline play has been pretty inconsistent at times, and that’s why we’ve seen instances like the Vancouver game, where Jake Allen gave up four goals while still having a really good game overall. Obviously, though, the biggest test for the duo of Elliott and Allen is going to be in the postseason, where neither Elliott or Miller have really been able to rise to the challenge in recent years.

3. It seemed like Paul Stastny was really starting to catch on before hurting his shoulder. What do you see him bringing to the team over the course of the season, and when do you anticipate his return?

PK: Stastny did get off to a great start, registering four points over his first four games. When he’s healthy, I think that’s his primary role: an offensive facilitator who is going to set up a bunch of goals and is also capable of scoring himself. Basically, he’s the player that the organization had been hoping

Patrik Berglund

would turn into for the past six seasons. He needs to stay healthy to do that, though, and he has a fair bit of pressure on him. The Blues haven’t had a whole lot of luck with big money free agents in recent years, i.e.

Paul Kariya

and

Jay McKee

, and Stastny is the guy who needs to change that stigma. Stastny skated for a decent chunk of the Blues’ practice

, so I would not be surprised if he returned either this weekend or next week. If it was the postseason, I think he could find it in himself to play, but since it’s so early in the season the Blues are going to be cautious with him and let him take his time.

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4. The 2013-14 Blues made some impressive midseason moves in order to prepare themselves for a deep playoff run. After a tough late-season stretch and an early playoff exit, do you anticipate the team to make waves before the trade deadline this year?

PK: I don’t think the Blues are nearly as eager to change up the dynamic of the team during the season this year. It seemed last year like it was pretty much a given all year long that the Blues were going to make a strong push for Miller at some point. After seeing the acquisitions of several grizzled veterans, including Derek Roy, Brenden Morrow, and at times Steve Ott, pretty much blow up in their face, I think the Blues would prefer to stick with what they have this year. That’s not to say that they’re afraid to go out and try to improve if there’s an area of the team that is obviously lacking. However, I don’t think that they want to be in a situation like last year, where guys like Roy and Morrow were being run out there on a nightly basis because of their contracts, when in reality, the organization’s homegrown players probably would have been just as effective.

So there you have, straight from the people in the know! Here’s a link to the complimentary conversation. Thanks to Patrick for taking the time to answer our questions, and check back to Blackout Dallas for our game preview!