Jets continue homestand by hosting Blues

BLUES (5-1-0) at JETS (3-4-0)

TV: FS-MW, TSN-JETS

Season series: This is the first of five games between the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets. The Jets will travel to St. Louis on Oct. 29. The Blues beat the Jets 3-2 in a shootout Feb. 25, 2012, in the team's most recent meeting, when the Jets were still in the Eastern Conference.

Big story: The Blues are looking to keep pace with the Central Division-leading Colorado Avalanche, who lead second-place St. Louis by two points. The Jets will try to get out of the Central cellar.

Team Scope:

Blues: St. Louis bounced back from its first loss of the season, a 6-2 thrashing by the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout Thursday night. Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was pleased the way his team responded to the loss to the Sharks and won its first road game after beginning the season with five in a row at home.

"Overall, our whole game was a lot better," he said. "It was kind of where it needed to be to play against teams like this. Obviously, against San Jose, we didn't and we've got to learn from it. Tonight was better."

Jets: Winnipeg lost 3-0 at MTS Centre to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. The Jets are off to a 1-2-0 start on their six-game homestand. Captain Andrew Ladd was disappointed by his team's slow start on home ice in the shutout loss to Montreal. "It's on each and every one of us individually to prepare for the game and make sure we're ready for puck drop," he told the Winnipeg Free Press. "There's absolutely no excuse to not be ready once that game is going."

Who's hot: Evander Kane scored twice for the Jets in their 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. He has three goals and five points in seven games. … David Backes scored again for the Blues at Chicago; he has goals in three of his past four games, with four goals in that span. Alexander Steen has five goals for the Blues.

Injury report: St. Louis reports no injuries, though forward Maxim Lapierre is suspended for a hit on San Jose's Dan Boyle in Tuesday's game and will have a hearing Friday. … Kane is day-to-day with a right-leg injury sustained during practice Wednesday. The Jets have placed right wing Chris Thorburn (upper body) on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 4.