The set-up: The St. Louis Blues had allowed only two goals in a three-game winning streak but fell 3-1 at Boston, leaving them at 31-19-3 on the season. St. Louis wraps up a two-game road trip at the 14-28-9 Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. While the Bruins (68 points are the second-highest total of any Eastern Conference team) are one of the NHL's best teams, the Sabres' 37 points are the fewest points for any team in the East.

St. Louis: The Blues' have 65 points (3rd in the Central) but they were on their heels against the Bruins, getting out-shot 46-33 to lose for the seventh time in their last 10 on the road (3-6-1). Jake Allen entered the season as the unquestioned No. 1 goaltender but he has became a forgotten man as backup Carter Hutton went 8-1-1 since Dec. 30 and stopped 94 of 96 shots in his last three outings. However, Allen was back in net Thursday and excelled in defeat, turning aside 43 of 45 shots and possibly earning another start against Buffalo. "Going into the game, I felt confident in him," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I hope that that's a game in his eyes that he can build off of." Brayden Schenn leads the Blues in points with 51 (21 goals, 30 assists) in 53 games. Vladimir Tarasenko has 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 53 games.

Buffalo: The Sabres went into the All-Star break riding an impressive three-game winning streak but been outscored 7-3 in dropping back-to-back home games against New Jersey and Florida. "It's so frustrating when you don't win at home," Sabres forward Kyle Okposo said. "We've got to pick our game up." Buffalo ranks last in the league in scoring, averaging 2.29 goals, although the power play has been producing over the past two weeks by converting on 9 of 25 chances in the last seven games. The Sabres have slowed down on offense after a burst in their trip through western Canada. Last week, the Sabres picked up a 4-0 win over Vancouver and a 5-0 win over Edmonton but those performances seem to be the exceptions to the rule considering the all-around struggles this season. Chad Johnson got the start for Buffalo against Florida, so starter Robin Lehner will likely return between the pipes against St. Louis. Lehner has a save percentage of .912 and has allowed 2.85 GPG in 38 games played this season (11-19-6 as a starter).

The pick: I expect Allen to play well again in goal here for the Blues and the Sabres seem like the perfect foil for St. Louis' recent road 'blues." After all, the Blues have won 10 of their last 11 against the Sabre. Make St. Louis a 10* play