ST. LOUIS -- David Perron isn't likely to claim a spot among the most celebrated players in Blues history, alongside the likes of Red Berenson, Barclay Plager and Bernie Federko, among many others.
But he might be tougher to keep out of town than anyone who ever has played for them.
Perron, who had a forgettable 86-game stay with the Penguins a few years back, is on his third stint with St. Louis, and it is shaping up to be his most productive one.
He enters the Blues' game against the Penguins tonight at 8:08 at Enterprise Center as the team's leading scorer, with 11 goals and 15 assists in 27 games, and has a six-game points streak.
Getting that kind of production from him has been particularly important for St. Louis, because the Blues' best offensive player, Vladimir Tarasenko, will miss most, if not all, of the regular season while recovering from shoulder surgery a month ago.
Tarasenko had relatively modest stats -- three goals and seven assists in 10 games -- before his operation, but scored 33 during the regular season in 2018-19 and 11 more during the playoffs to help the Blues win their first Stanley Cup.
But while Perron doesn't have Tarasenko's exceptional skill level -- not all that many guys do -- he has been an offensive force, and has scored goals at key times.
He has five game-winners, tying him with Boston's David Pastrnak and Ryan Getzlaf of Anaheim for the league lead. Perron's total includes three in overtime (all in a span of seven games), which ties Brock Nelson (remember him?) of the New York Islanders for the most in the NHL.
That's the kind of output the Penguins were hoping to get from him when Jim Rutherford sent a first-round draft choice (which subsequently was traded to the Islanders and used to select Mathew Barzal) and blue-collar winger Rob Klinkhammer to Edmonton for Perron on Jan. 2, 2015.
Sixteen 16 goals and 22 assists -- along with a minus-21 plus-minus rating -- later, Perron and Adam Clendening were shipped to Anaheim for Carl Hagelin on Jan. 16, 2016.
A few months later, Perron rejoined the Blues as a free agent, only to be exposed -- and lost to -- Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft. But after one season with the Golden Knights, he returned to St. Louis as a free agent and has settled in as a valuable member of their personnel mix.
At least until the next time they send him away.
• Because both teams played on the road Friday night, neither had a game-day skate this morning. Mike Sullivan is scheduled to speak with reporters about two hours before the game.
• Perron is one of four ex-Penguins' on the St. Louis roster, but might be the only one in the lineup tonight. Robert Bortuzzo will be completing a four-game suspension, Oskar Sundqvist is on injured reserve because of an unspecified lower-body issue and Derrick Pouliot, recently recalled from the American Hockey League, likely will play only if the Blues' don't have six other healthy defensemen available. Sundqvist and Pouliot were first-round draft choices.
• The Penguins and Blues have split the season series for five consecutive seasons. Both teams won on the road in 2018-19.
• Both clubs have fared well outside their conference in 2019-20. The Penguins are 9-2-1 against Western Conference clubs and St. Louis is 6-3-3 against Eastern opponents.
• Jake Guentzel has a seven-game scoring streak, with seven goals and six assists during that span.
• The Blues have a better record when being outshot (9-2-4) than when outshooting opponents (6-3-2).
• Evgeni Malkin is three goals shy of 400 in his career.
• St. Louis coach Craig Berube is 54-24-12 since taking over behind the St. Louis bench last season.
