The Blues unfortunately find themselves one point out of the Wild Card spot in the Western Conference thanks to the Los Angeles Kings' 3-2 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night. The Blues did get some help from Montreal though, who scored in the final seconds to earn a come-from-behind win over Nashville, who was unable to extend their lead over the Blues for third in the Central Division.
So while the Blues have seen their stanglehold on a playoff spot slip away recently, they still have games in hand on teams their chasing and can control their own destiny.
"I'm not inside the locker room (right now) so I don't know what they're saying in there, but my hunch is they're saying 'this is our season right now,'" Yeo added. "I think we have to rise to the moment. That's the biggest thing for me. (We need to) be excited about the intensity that's in these hockey games, and we have to have some awareness of (opposing teams), but more important Is our focus has to be on our own.
"We're trying to build more pace into our game. We're seeing less consistency in our game lately in the four losses," Yeo said. "Just not enough in there to guarantee wins."
Tonight's 7 p.m. matchup in Winnipeg won't make things any easier. The Blues lead the Jets by five points in the Western Conference standings but haven't beaten Winnipeg yet this season, most recently suffering a 5-3 loss on Jan. 31 in St. Louis.
The Jets have two players scoring at or above a point-per-game pace: Mark Scheifele has 65 points (26 goals, 39 assists) in 65 games while rookie Patrik Laine has 56 points (31 goals, 25 assists) in 56 games.
"This is a very talented group that we're playing tonight, and just looking at the video, the goal scorers, the scoring chances, the plays off the rush, the plays of the offensive zone… they're a handful," Yeo said. "They come at us with speed and they have weight to go with that. They're a challenge."
