Livescore
If the St. Louis Blues (22-20-4) are going to make their two wins this past week against the Calgary Flames stick and give the four points they collected some purpose, they need a strong – and winning – performance today when they take on the struggling Utah Hockey Club (18-19-7) in the first appearance for the Blues at Delta Center (8 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
It’s been documented countless times this season, seven as a matter of fact, that the Blues need to string together consecutive wins, and not just two.
Their inability to win three games in a row has been written, but this is another opportunity for that to be finally cast aside after going 0-6-1 in such moments this season.
The Blues have been outscored in those seven games 28-17, and that’s why the talk after beating Calgary twice to pull within one point of the second wild card in the Western Conference has been to not be content and satisfied. More hunger is needed.
It’s not only a chance at asserting themselves in the wild card, but it’s an opportunity to separate themselves even more from Utah, which has lost three in a row and has only one win the past six (1-4-1).
“I think the mindset going into this week, essentially it’s like our playoff push,” Blues forward Dylan Holloway said after a two-assist performance in Thursday’s 4-1 win. “We needed these points bad. It was big games for us, and we came through. I think that shows a lot about our group and our resiliency to show up when it counts. I think we’re going to keep that momentum going for our road trip.”
They have to, and that road trip will also take them to face the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday before returning home for three.
These games prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off will help determine where the Blues will be in terms of standings and the thinking of what general manager Doug Armstrong will do as the March 7 trade deadline approaches.
“I think for us every game is kind of a playoff game now,” said Blues forward Jordan Kyrou, who scored his 20th goal of the season Thursday. “We’re getting down to a big stretch here before the break. All of these games are huge.”
No doubt that the Blues are in a better spot today than they were five days ago. They know it. Now it’s just about not allowing it to slip away.
“I think we realize where we’re at,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said after scoring twice Thursday. “We’re in a little better position than we were (five) days ago. You just keep getting the feeling of guys pumping each other up and playing for one another. When you creep up in the standings, it makes you play hard and this is the time of the year when you want to play meaningful hockey games.
“This is four points that can give us a little bit of momentum for sure. We’re going into two tough buildings — one being Salt Lake where we’ve never been before, it’s a tough place to play from what we here — and Vegas. We’ve got to continue this onto the road.”
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Led by Colton Parayko, who has scored in an NHL career-tying best three straight games who also matched his career high in goals for a season Thursday with his 10th, Blues defensemen have been pitching in more offense.
They’ve scored in seven of the past 10 games – including four straight – and have 12 goals in those seven games (Parayko, five; Cam Fowler, four; Justin Faulk, Philip Broberg and Tyler Tucker each with one).
“The numbers speak for themselves, but (also) where our defensemen are in the offensive zone,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “It’s almost like they’re playing free right now. They’re just trusting where they should be. They’re holding pucks in the offensive zone that’s extending our time, and they’re not afraid to shoot. They’re not looking for passes, they’re looking to shoot first and then they’re making plays second, which is the way we want them to be.
“I thought Faulk was really good [Thursday], he could have had a couple. Seventeen, the play he makes, Fowler’s play on 55’s goal, that’s pretty special.”
As for “55,” who will undoubtedly break his personal record with 36 games remaining, his willingness to shoot more, shoot fast has given him more opportunity in the offensive zone, but there are certainly other factors that go along with this.
It just has nothing to do with any conversation Montgomery has had with Parayko.
“I think I’ve had one conversation with him since I’ve been here, and I grabbed him after about seven games and I said, ‘Hey, I haven’t talked to you much because don’t change a thing,’” Montgomery said. “That’s the only thing I said to him. And I think he’s taking it upon himself to shoot more. He’s a player that you can tell by the way he’s playing that he wants to play playoff hockey, he wants to play meaningful hockey. He’s leading us that way.”
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Jordan Binnington will get the start tonight; he has allowed two or fewer goals in four of the past five starts and five of seven. Joel Hofer started Thursday and made 29 saves to improve to 7-1-1 his past eight starts.
“I think our goaltender position, I would take our tandem over any tandem in the league,” Montgomery said. “They are really good, they handle the puck and they’re really competitive individuals.”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Nathan Walker-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Mathieu Joseph
Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter-Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Scott Perunovich, Brandon Saad and Alexandre Texier. Nick Leddy (lower body) is out. Torey Krug (ankle) is out for the season.
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Utah Projected Lineup:
Clayton Keller-Logan Cooley-Nick Schmaltz
Mattias Maccelli-Barrett Hayton-Josh Doan
Jack McBain-Nick Bjugstad-Lawson Crouse
Liam O’Brien-Kevin Stenlund-Alexander Kerfoot
Olli Maatta-John Marino
Ian Cole-Michael Kesselring
Juuso Valimaki-Nick DeSimone
Connor Ingram will start in goal; Karel Vejmelka will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Vladislav Kolyachonok and Michael Carcone. Mikhail Sergachev (lower body), Dylan Guenther (lower body), Sean Durzi (upper body) and Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) are out.
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