BLUESThe St. Louis Blues took care of business on the road again on Thursday, outscoring the Devils 3-1 in the third period to win their second straight game of 2023.
Jordan Binnington had a terrific showing in net, making 36 saves (his second-most this season) and earning career win No. 105 - moving him into sole possession of No. 5 on the all-time franchise leaderboard. Binnington also moved to 9-5-1 in road games this year, the second highest road win total in the NHL.
"(Binnington's) our backstop back there, we believe in him," said Brandon Saad, who had his own big night in Newark. "He's a big reason why we won tonight and why we're winning hockey games."
Saad and Ivan Barbashev each had multi-point nights as linemates on Thursday, building chemistry with each passing game while also seeing penalty kill minutes together.
The Blues continue their road trip in Montreal on Saturday for the first of a back-to-back set, hoping to add to the Canadiens' season-long losing streak.
They head to Montreal with a record of 19-17-3, worth 41 points and fifth place in a tight Central Division ladder as of Friday afternoon.
CANADIENSThe Montreal Canadiens, going through some growing pains amidst a rebuild, have lost a season-long seven straight games heading into Saturday's contest with the Blues.
Defensive struggles have hampered the Canadiens as of late, who have given up at least four goals in each of their last six games. This includes a tough 9-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, which was driven by a hat trick by Alex Ovechkin on New Year's Eve.
Featuring plenty of young talent, the Canadiens are led in scoring by 23-year-old Nick Suzuki and 22-year-olds Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach. 2022 NHL Draft No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky is still playing with the NHL roster, though he hasn't added to his 10 points on the season since Dec. 14.
Caufield has shown significant progress as a goal scorer, with his 22 goals already just one shy of his season total from last year. Drafted No. 15 in the 2019 NHL Draft, he only trails Jack Hughes for highest goal total in the draft class.
The Canadiens host the Blues with a record of 15-21-3, worth 33 points and eighth place in the Atlantic Division.
HEAD-TO-HEADThe Blues fell to Montreal 7-4 at Enterprise Center earlier this year thanks to a hat trick from Habs forward Christian Dvorak. The Blues are 7-4-1 in their last 12 games against the Canadiens, with a 1-0-1 record last season.
