The St. Louis Blues believe that winger Jordan Kyrou will be one of the key players for their ongoing rebuild.
Recently, he has shown why. Kyrou is heading into Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils with a four-game goal-scoring streak.
After only scoring two goals in 11 games, Kyrou has scored six goals in his last seven games.
“When he’s getting the puck in a scoring area, he’s looking to shoot, he’s not looking to pass,” said Blues center Robert Thomas. “When he’s doing that, it’s tough. Goalies don’t have time to get ready for a shot, and he’s putting it in the right spots.”
Kyrou has also improved his overall play. He is plus-4 in 32 games this season, compared to minus-12 last season and minus-38 two seasons ago.
“I think he’s just staying with it,” said Blues coach Jim Montgomery. “I don’t see highs and lows in his body language. He’s just on to the next shift, and I think he’s developing a real maturity mentally and to his physical game.”
The Blues have gone 6-2-2 since Montgomery replaced Drew Bannister as head coach. This includes a 3-0 win over the Devils on Nov. 27 in Newark, N.J.
Dylan Holloway scored twice for the Blues in that win, and Thomas scored once. Pavel Buchnevich got a minor lower-body injury in that game, but he has returned and scored six points in his last six games.
Jordan Binnington made 32 saves to earn the shutout over the Devils, and he is expected to start on Tuesday, since backup Joel Hofer started Sunday’s 3-2 win over the New York Rangers.
Goaltender Jakob Markstrom has started three consecutive games for the Devils after Jake Allen was injured on Dec. 8 against Colorado. Markstrom allowed three goals on 20 shots in the earlier loss to the Blues.
Allen skated with the Devils on Monday and was cleared to play on the team’s two-game road trip.
The Devils are 4-1-1 in their last six games. They scored four goals in the third period during their 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe urged the team to play with more energy in the final 20 minutes, and the Devils responded.
“Just challenged the guys in the second (intermission) to be exactly that, a little more determined and competitive,” Keefe said.
“When we were trying to complicate things and we were turning pucks over, we just kept feeding (the Blackhawks),” said winger Jesper Bratt, who earned an assist on two of the goals. “So, I think going into the third, we knew we needed a goal. It wasn’t really going to come pretty. It was going to come from some battles.”
Bratt has three goals and 10 assists in the eight games since the Blues shut out the Devils. On the other hand, Nico Hischier had not scored a point in five straight games before scoring against the Blackhawks.
