GDT #69 Blues vs Jets | 6:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN

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theohall
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GDT #69 Blues vs Jets | 6:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN

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TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues delivered an impressive win in Washington on Friday night, getting out to a 4-0 lead and holding on to beat the Capitals 5-2.

It was a big night for Sammy Blais, who tallied two goals in a game for the first time in his career. Since coming back to St. Louis just prior to the Trade Deadline, Blais has six goals and three assists in 17 games - already matching his point total from 54 games as a Ranger.

"I've been feeling good since being back here (in St. Louis)," said Blais. "I'm finding my confidence and am just happy it's been working out well."

Pavel Buchnevich set up Kasperi Kapanen for a goal to extend his point streak to 11 games, now one shy of his career high. Since the streak began on Feb. 23, Buchnevich only trails Connor McDavid for the NHL lead with 19 points.

The Blues return home on Sunday to face the playoff-hopeful Winnipeg Jets and will conclude the home stand on Tuesday with a home-and-home set starting vs. Detroit.

They'll host the Jets with a record of 30-33-5, worth 65 points and sixth in the Central as of Saturday afternoon.

JETS The Winnipeg Jets are hoping to hang on to their Western Conference playoff spot, though their 3-7-2 record in the last 12 games is not aiding that effort.

In a quiet Trade Deadline, the Jets' only major move was to bring in forward Vladislav Namestnikov from Tampa Bay. Namestnikov has five points in seven games with Winnipeg, including a three-point effort in Florida last week.

Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey lead the Jets in scoring, the latter building on his breakout season. Morrissey's 69 points rank second among all NHL defensemen this season, a career-high mark by more than 30 points with 14 games still to play.

The Jets began a back-to-back set on Saturday in Nashville, fighting for an overtime win to rebound from a shutout loss to League-leading Boston on Thursday.

Adam Lowry tied the game halfway through the third period, then Neal Pionk buried the game winner shortly into overtime.

They'll visit Enterprise Center with a record of 39-28-3, worth 81 points and fourth in the Central Division.

HEAD-TO-HEAD Winnipeg has proved a tough matchup for the Blues this year, with St. Louis looking for its first win in the fourth and final matchup of the season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Joel Hofer, expected to make his fourth NHL start on Sunday. Hofer - a Winnipeg native - earned his second career win with a 32-save effort in Washington on Friday.

JETS Mark Scheifele, leading the Jets with 38 goals this season. Scheifele has five points in three games against the Blues this year, including two goals in the last matchup in St. Louis

BLUE NOTES
Sunday's matchup with Winnipeg marks the Kids' Game at Enterprise Center, featuring kid-oriented programming and activations throughout the arena... Jordan Binnington will serve the second of his two-game suspension on Sunday, given after Wednesday's game against Minnesota... The Blues have not allowed a power-play goal to Winnipeg in three of their last four matchups, going 13-for-14 (92.9 percent) on the penalty kill over that span, including a 6-for-6 effort in their last matchup with the Jets on Jan. 30 in Winnipeg... Buchnevich's 11-game point streak shares the longest active streak in the NHL with Seattle's Vince Dunn and is the longest by any Blue this season.
The Winnipeg Jets will seek to complete a season sweep of the Blues when they face their Central Division rival Sunday night in St. Louis.

The Jets won the teams' previous meetings 4-0 on Oct. 24, 5-2 on Dec. 8 and 4-2 on Jan. 30.

Winnipeg (39-28-3, 81 points) is coming off a 3-2 overtime victory at the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry scored third-period goals for the Jets, and Neal Pionk scored the overtime winner.

"We were very happy with our overall team game for 60 minutes," Jets coach Rick Bowness said. "We were very confident that (if) we kept doing what we were doing, the forecheck was working, we had some good looks off the rush, so finally the puck went in, Nik made a great shot, and we went from there."

Ehlers' goal provided the breakthrough after Winnipeg's frustrating second period.

"We spent more time in their zone; we didn't generate much from it," Bowness said. "What the guys did again, they just stayed with it. We kept saying just keep putting pucks on the net and see what happens. Give the guys credit; they found a way to win."

Pierre-Luc Dubois returned from an upper-body injury to set up the winning goal.

"When he's skating like that, he's a powerful guy, he's tough to knock off the puck," Bowness said. "He make a great play there at the end."

Connor Hellebuyck tended goal for the Jets in Nashville, so David Rittich could make his only start against the Blues on Sunday.

Mark Scheifele (three goals, two assists), Josh Morrissey (two goals, three assists), Kyle Connor (goal, three assists), Blake Wheeler (goal, three assists) and Dubois (two goals, one assist) have played well against St. Louis.

The Blues (30-33-5, 65 points) have won three of their last five games after winning just one of their previous nine. Their 5-2 road victory over the Washington Capitals on Friday was a nice rebound from their 8-5 loss at home to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.

"The other night against (Minnesota), it was one stretch of time in the second period where it kind of collapsed on us," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "But overall, I think we've had the energy and the compete level that we've wanted, and our team's bonding together. We've got some new faces, and I think it's going in the right direction."

St. Louis has been getting strong production from Pavel Buchnevich, who has seven goals and 12 assists during an 11-game point streak, and Jordan Kyrou, who has five goals and two assists during his four-game streak.

Newcomers Jakub Vrana (four goals, one assist in six games) and Kasperi Kapanen (three goals in nine games) have added some scoring depth.

The Blues again will play without goaltender Jordan Binnington, who will complete a two-game NHL suspension for hitting Wild forward Ryan Hartman in the head with his blocker on Wednesday.

Rookie Joel Hofer filled in for Binnington and earned the victory Friday against Washington.
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Re: GDT #69 Blues vs Jets | 6:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN

Post by theohall »

On the Anton Malmstrom signing out of Bowling Green:

6'3 204 LD. Purely a defensive defenseman who garnered enough interest to attend both the Bruins and Blues training camps in the past 2 seasons. Went undrafted and chose the college route over staying in Sweden. He's the likely Mikkola replacement.
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Re: GDT #69 Blues vs Jets | 6:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN

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Just read an Athletic article about Hofer and also talked about Lindgren. The Blues wanted to re-sign Lindgren as Binnington's backup this year, but didn't want to give him 3 years of term, because it would potentially block Hofer from being the guaranteed back-up in 23-24. In other words, Armstrong wanted to show the confidence in Hofer in addition to signing him to a one-way contract. We'll see how that plays out next season.
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Re: GDT #69 Blues vs Jets | 6:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN

Post by gaijin »

Schenn is the man. He flat-out rocked Ehlers.
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