TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES Brandon Saad scored 13 seconds into Sunday's game - the fastest goal from the start of a game in the NHL this season - and Jordan Binnington made 23 saves, but it wasn't enough as the Blues fell to the Anaheim Ducks, 4-1, at Honda Center.
With the loss, the Blues fell to 7-2-1 on the season, just short of matching their best 10-game start in franchise history, which was 8-1-1 in 2002-03.
"We could have done a lot of things better," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said after the game. "It seemed like we didn't have a lot of emotion in the game. We had opportunities to score. We didn't capitalize on some good opportunities."
The Blues will look to rebound Tuesday in Winnipeg but will still be without Brayden Schenn (upper-body injury) and Torey Krug, Ville Husso, Kyle Clifford and Niko Mikkola, who are all on COVID-19 protocols.
Tuesday will be the fourth and final game of the road trip. St. Louis is 1-1-1 so far.
JETS The Winnipeg Jets failed to score on Saturday night in a 2-0 loss at home to the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The loss snapped an eight-game point streak for the Jets (6-0-2), their longest since the team relocated to Winnipeg. It was also their first home loss of the season at Canada Life Centre.
"(The Islanders') success is controlling the net front and controlling the slot and not allowing a lot to happen," Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice told reporters. "So you're going to need to build some chaos, which comes from some movement and some of those pucks getting through and getting to the net and causing that chaos. We didn't do a lot of it tonight."
Both Mark Scheifele and Paul Stastny left Saturday's game in the third period with undisclosed injuries. Their status for Tuesday's matchup with the Blues is unknown.
The Jets (6-3-2, 14 points) sit just one point behind the Blues (7-2-1, 15 points) in the Central Division standings this season, but the Blues have a game in hand.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues and Jets will meet Tuesday for the first time since Feb. 6, 2020. The Blues lost that game 4-2 at Enterprise Center but are 3-1-1 in their last five visits to Winnipeg.
The last time St. Louis played Winnipeg on the road, Alexander Steen was playing in his 1,000th NHL game (Feb. 1, 2020).
Jordan Binnington is 4-1-0 in five career starts against the Jets (regular season and postseason) with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .910 save-percentage.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES James Neal, who has posted 29 points (19 goals, 10 assists) and a plus-16 rating in 36 career games against Winnipeg.
JETS Kyle Connor, who leads the Jets in scoring this season with 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 11 games this season. As of Monday afternoon, the 24-year-old forward ranked fourth overall in the League in scoring.
BLUE NOTES
Craig Berube worked his 200th game behind the Blues bench on Sunday in Anaheim, becoming the eighth coach in Blues history to reach the milestone… David Perron will move past Bobby Plager for sole possession of 10th in games played (617) on Tuesday in Winnipeg. If Jake Neighbours plays against the Jets, it will be his ninth game of the season. The Blues will need to decide whether he will remain with the team or returns to juniors before he plays his 10th NHL game… Justin Faulk's next goal will be the 100th of his NHL career… The Blues' 7-2-1 start shares their fourth-best mark in team history.
Jets meet Blues, look to rebound from shutout
The Winnipeg Jets will look to jump-start their offense Tuesday night when they host the St. Louis Blues.
After scoring four or more goals six times in their first 10 games, the Jets suffered a 2-0 shutout to the New York Islanders on Saturday.
"Our two best chances don't go for us, and then we get an awful lot blocked, but that's a big part of what they do and how they play," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "We spent enough time in their end, didn't manufacture enough second chances. We had possession, but we didn't get enough chaos caused.
"You need to be able to really skate and drive in the offensive zone, and I thought we were a little short on that tonight."
Both teams have featured impressive balance on their top three forward lines when healthy -- but maintaining full strength has been a challenge.
Maurice moved grinder Adam Lowry up with top center Mark Scheifele (who has played just five games this season) and winger Blake Wheeler (six).
Pierre Luc-Dubois has teamed with Kyle Connor and prospect Evgeny Svechnikov while Andrew Copp flourished with Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers.
But both Scheifele (leg) and Stastny (foot) exited Saturday's 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders with injuries. Neither practiced Monday, but neither has been ruled out of Tuesday's game.
The Blues got center Ryan O'Reilly back from COVID-19 protocol Sunday, and coach Craig Berube put him back with David Perron and Brandon Saad on the top line.
Robert Thomas centered Vladimir Tarasenko and Jordan Kyrou while Ivan Barbashev played between Pavel Buchnevich and Klim Kostin.
Saad scored the only Blues goal Sunday in a 4-1 loss to the Ducks in Anaheim. He has three goals in three games since coming off the COVID list.
Kostin was dangerous on the third line, but he hit the post with one shot and the crossbar with another.
"It really boils down to just bearing down on your chances," Berube said. "You gotta capitalize on those, and we didn't do that. It's a 1-1 game going into the third."
Berube wasn't pleased with his team's offensive tempo.
"We played too slow tonight," he said. "And we didn't want to play below the goal line in the offensive zone enough for me."
The Blues are still missing defensemen Torey Krug and Niko Mikkola along with goaltender Ville Husso and winger Kyle Clifford due to COVID-19. Forward Brayden Schenn (upper-body injury) is expected to miss significant time while forward Oskar Sundqvist (knee surgery) is expected back soon.
"I feel for (Schenn)," Berube said. "He's one of our guys that fights through anything, whether it's injuries or things like that. He's a battler. It's unfortunate that we lost him here. So hopefully he's back sooner than later, but it's a tough loss."
Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (illness) sat out Saturday's game, but he returned to practice Monday and could start Tuesday. Jordan Binnington likely will start again for the Blues.
