BLUESThe St. Louis Blues took the challenge of their season-long road trip in stride, earning seven out of 10 possible points against multiple teams in Western Conference playoff contention.
Jordan Kyrou led the offense during the road trip, earning a team-high nine points despite only playing three of the five games after suffering an upper-body injury.
Playing to overtime in the road trip opener, as well as through to a shootout in the finale, the Blues have quickly built a sample of close-game competitive experience. After seeing overtime in just three of their first 27 games, the Blues have seen additional time in four of their last eight games.
With three days off for the Christmas holiday, the Blues are ready to jump right back in for the next two months before the All-Star break. Opening a homestand against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, the Blues will play three games at home this week before facing Toronto again on to start a four-game road trip next week.
The Blues host the Maple Leafs with a record of 16-16-2, worth 34 points and fifth place in the Central Division.
MAPLE LEAFSAfter falling in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth year in a row, the Toronto Maple Leafs are setting out to break through into true championship contention.
The Leafs are led in scoring by reigning Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews, Top-10 goal scorer William Nylander and early-season point streak leader Mitch Marner. Propelled by Marner's historic streak, the Maple Leafs surged in November and now hold the No. 2 spot in the Atlantic Division and No. 4 in the overall League standings ahead of Tuesday's game in St. Louis.
As Marner scored points in 23 straight games, the Leafs went 15-2-6 for a League-best 36 points from Oct. 27 to Dec. 13. Only 2-2-0 in the four games since, Toronto will be trying to get back to that level of star-powered offense on Tuesday night.
Despite Jack Campbell's departure for Edmonton in the offseason, the Maple Leafs have seen stellar play in goal this year from both Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray. Among goaltenders with at least 10 starts this year, Samsonov (2.07) and Murray (2.34) are No. 3 and No. 4, respectively in goals-against average.
Toronto heads to St. Louis with a record of 21-7-6, worth 48 points and second in the Atlantic Division.
HEAD-TO-HEADThe Blues went 1-1-0 against Toronto last year, with both teams winning in the other's building. In their last 10 matchups with the Maple Leafs, the Blues are 8-2-0 - including seven wins in a row from Feb. 2, 2017 to Oct. 7, 2019.
