Preview: Blues vs. Jets

BLUES VS. JETS

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUESThe St. Louis Blues won't roll over easily. After taking a 7-1 loss in Calgary on Monday, their widest margin of defeat this season, the Blues fought back and downed the Flames 5-1 in Thursday's home ice rematch. The Blues have not taken regulation losses in consecutive games since Nov. 16.
Brandon Saad struck first in the tilt, scoring his first of two goals in the win off a pass from Brayden Schenn in the first period. Saad finished with an assist to mark his 10th career three-point game, and Schenn followed up with a goal of his own later in the period.
Schenn's go-ahead goal proved to be enough to hold the lead the rest of the game. Ryan O'Reilly and Jordan Kyrou added goals to build the lead and seal the win.
"It's tough when we were in their building, it's a back-to-back and I think we just were careless with the puck," Saad said. "I think (tonight) we did a good job of keeping it simple and playing heavy in their end. We had a lot of cycle shifts where we were using the back of the net, changing sides, and I think that leads to success."
Goaltender Ville Husso had another tremendous start between the pipes, building on his breakout season. In the month of January, the 26-year-old Husso has a record of 6-0-0, stopping 195 out of 207 total shots faced.
Saturday's afternoon matchup with Winnipeg will mark the final game before the Blues have some time off for the All-Star break. The Blues are currently third in the Central Division with 57 points and a record of 26-12-5. A win on Saturday would match their win total from the entire 56-game 2020-21 season.
Per NHL schedule changes announced last week
, the Blues will resume their season on Feb. 10 with a game against New Jersey - originally scheduled for Dec. 27.
JETSThe Winnipeg Jets will be looking to turn things around at Enterprise Center on Saturday after losing their sixth straight contest on Thursday in a difficult stretch on the schedule. Their road trip following the Dec. 19 matchup with the Blues included stops in Vegas, Colorado, Washington, Nashville, Boston and Pittsburgh.
On Thursday night in Winnipeg, the Jets fell to Vancouver 5-1, driven by a hat trick from Canucks forward J.T. Miller. Andrew Copp scored the lone Jets goal, his 12th of the season.
"We need to be a little bit better everywhere right now," said Jets Captain Blake Wheeler. "Those little things are adding up right now, we're a little bit late to everything right now, and it's hurting us."
Between the pipes, Connor Hellebuyck has continued to be one of the busiest and most productive goalies in hockey. Hellebuyck, the 2019-20 Vezina Trophy winner as the League's top goaltender, is currently third in the League in games played this season (34) and second in shots faced (1,082). Playing in Thursday night's game, it remains to be seen if he starts in goal again for the afternoon bout in St. Louis.
Saturday's matchup in St. Louis is the first of a two-game road trip prior to the All-Star break, concluding on Tuesday in Philadelphia. They'll resume for the second half of the season on Feb. 8 with a game against Minnesota.
The Jets are currently in sixth place in the Central Division, carrying a total record of 17-16-7 for 41 points.
HEAD-TO-HEADThe Blues are 1-1-0 against the Jets this season, with a shootout win on Nov. 9 and a 4-2 loss on Dec. 19. Pavel Buchnevich has four points across the two games, and Jordan Binnington gave one of the best goaltending performances of the season in the shootout win, stopping 39 shots with highlight save after highlight save.
The season series will conclude with another matchup in St. Louis on March 13.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUESRyan O'Reilly, who is set to play in his 900th career game on Saturday. The Blues' captain has 19 career points in 31 games against the Jets - as well as the shootout winner earlier this season.
JETSKyle Connor, who will join Kyrou at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game as the Jets' representative in Las Vegas. The 25-year-old forward has 23 goals and 19 assists for 42 total points this season, leading the team in all three categories.