Brewer to Debut For Blues

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The Blues will have their Captain on the ice tonight for the first time all season. Defenseman Eric Brewer will play this evening as the Note finishes a set of games on back-to-back nights and begins a set of games at home (Florida in town Saturday night).

Brewer has been sidelined since last season after undergoing a pair of surgeries to correct an ailing back and related nerve problems. He missed 54 regular season games and all four postseason contests against Vancouver last season. Brewer netted a goal and five assists in 28 games during the 2008-2009 campaign while owning a minus-14 plus-minus rating. There was never a thought to remove the "C" from the 30-year old Vernon, British Columbia native.

In nets Ty Conklin (2-1-0-1) will start for St. Louis one night after Chris Mason turned aside 34 of 36 shots for his third win (3-3-1). Phoenix will counter with Ilya Bryzgalov (6-3-0-2) who had the night off last evening as Jason LaBarbera (1-1) backstopped a 4-1 win in Columbus. The Coyotes netted three power play goals in the victory. The Blues are in a drought and have not converted a power play chance in their last 17 tries. The Note is 26th in the NHL's power play rankings.

Andy Murray looks for another strong start from a Blues team that is trending much better in terms of consistently playing well in the first 20 minutes. The Note outscored Carolina last night 3-1 in the first period of a 5-2 road win. David Perron got the scoring started with his first of two goals on the night (empty netter in third) and three points overall to add to his three points in a pair of games over the weekend...this after being held pointless through the team's first seven tests. Perron, like T-J Oshie before him, has thrived on a line with more defensive-minded forwards Jay McClement and B-J Crombeen.

7:00 is start time at Scottrade Center. Surely some early Halloween costumes will be on display in the stands...which is always nice.

TPC