Preview: Blues vs. Jets
By
Gabby Khodadad / Notes by Brett Barczewski
When: Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: First Alert 4, Matrix Midwest, Victory+
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at ticketmaster.com
QUICK HITS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues (25-26-5) will take on the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday to begin a three-game homestand to commence the second half of the NHL regular season.
During the break, goaltender Jordan Binnington and defenseman Colton Parayko earned a medal while representing Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off. In four games with Canada, Binnington had 97 saves and posted a .907 save percentage. He was the only goaltender in the tournament to play every second in each game.
Prior to the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-off, the Blues battled the Blackhawks on Feb. 8, earning a 6-5 comeback victory, ending in a 10-round shootout. Radek Faksa scored the game-winning shootout goal with a slick forehand, backhand move.
Following the first practice back as a team on Tuesday, Head Coach Jim Montgomery addressed the media regarding his views on the outlook for the remainder of the season.
“I’m trying not to focus on the outcome,” Montgomery said. “I feel that we need to focus on our consistency and our preparation daily and the results will take care of itself and that’s where we are right now. We know we are in a little bit of a hole; we got to win a lot of hockey games. But if our mind goes to results and we lose our first game, it could spiral the wrong way, we want to be able to focus on the process that allows us to have success. That consistency of competing, of winning goal line races, of winning wall battles and having numbers at nets, we feel if our focus is on those things, the results will take care of itself.”
The Blues will begin their homestand with back-to-back games beginning Saturday with the Jets, followed by Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.
JETS The Winnipeg Jets (39-14-3) will begin the second half of their season as the top-ranked team in the NHL with 81 points.
The Jets went into the two-week break on an eight-game winning streak with their most recent victory over the New York Islanders 4-3 on Feb. 7.
The Jets had three players represent their team at the 4 Nations Face-Off including defenseman Josh Morrissey for Canada, forward Kyle Connor and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck for Team USA.
The Jets and Blues are tied this season with a 1-1-0 record, with the Blues earning a 4-1 victory over the Jets in Winnipeg in December. Since their last meeting, the Jets have gone 21-6-3. They currently hold the No. 1 seed for the Western Conference playoff spot.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Robert Thomas was on a four-game point streak (one goal, four assists) prior to the NHL break. The assistant captain leads the team with 28 assists and ranks second with 41 points. Thomas is one goal away from reaching 100 career goals.
JETS Forward Kyle Connor leads the Jets in points with 69, including 39 assists. Additionally, he leads all American-born players this season with 30 goals. In 587 career games, Connor has 554 points (273 goals, 281 assists).
BLUE NOTES
- The Blues are 1-1-0 against Winnipeg this season, with each team winning on the road (3-2 Winnipeg win on Oct. 22 in St. Louis and 4-1 St. Louis win on Dec. 3 in Winnipeg).
- Binnington and Parayko won the 4 Nations title game at TD Garden, where they also won the 2019 Stanley Cup, becoming just the second and third players to win the Cup as a visitor and claim an NHL International Tournament on the same ice (Larry McDonald, Canada Cup in 1976 & Stanley Cup in 1989 w/Calgary at the Montreal Forum).
- Cam Fowler leads Blues defensemen with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) since Dec. 14, which was his first game as a Blue. He scored his sixth goal of the season on Feb. 8.
