The St. Louis Blues will try to continue their recent offensive surge when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night.
After scuffling through a four-game winless streak — they went 0-3-1 with just seven goals — the Blues scored 13 times while defeating the New York Rangers and the Nashville Predators.
“We want to start trending in the right direction for the playoffs here, so these are a good two games for us,” Blues forward Jordan Kyrou said after the team’s 7-4 victory Saturday in Nashville.
“Every game has been a little bit tighter, and we’ve stepped up to the challenge,” Blues forward Robert Thomas said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Thomas (four goals, two assists), Kyrou (five assists), David Perron (three goals, one assist) and Brandon Saad (one goal, two assists) led the offensive charge in those two games. Before that, Thomas had just two points (one goal, one assist) in his previous six games.
“I’m starting to kind of get going again,” Thomas said. “I didn’t like that little stretch I had. Same thing goes for the team. We’re starting to get back on track.”
The Jets have gone 4-5-2 in their last 11 games while falling off the pace in the playoff chase. They sit in sixth place in the Central Division, five points back of the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
They are also 13 points back of the Blues, who sit in second place in the division.
Winnipeg will cap a three-game road trip with this game at Enterprise Center, where the Blues are 20-7-2 this season. The Jets fell to the New York Islanders 5-2 Friday night.
“Yes, we just had two wins in a row, but we haven’t had the best stretch, so everyone is frustrated,” Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers said.
“We have to be disappointed with the result tonight,” Jets coach Dave Lowry said after the Islanders game. “But we also have to now reset again and get ready to play another big game.”
Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has allowed four or more goals in each of his last six starts. Despite Hellebuyck’s struggles, defenseman Josh Morrissey said the Jets remain confident in him.
“This guy battles and competes on pucks,” FIRST NAME?? Morrissey said, “And I mean, a few years ago, you look back at it, we wouldn’t have been able to be even close to getting into the play-in series that year if it wasn’t for him, and last year as well. I understand that, when you’re goaltender, you get that criticism and he puts more pressure on himself than any external source could, whether it’s media or anything like that.”
Still, backup goalie Eric Comrie (7-2-1, 2.34 goals-against average) could get the call against the Blues. He has won his last two starts.
The Blues likely will turn to goaltender Jordan Binnington (13-12-3, 3.08 GAA) after playing Ville Husso in Saturday’s game in Nashville.
The Jets are 2-0-1 against the Blues this season.
–Field Level Media