Tag: St. Louis

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NHL (National Hockey League)

The Blues look to finish their homestand strong against the Blackhawks in St. Louis

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery hopes his team can learn from playing top NHL teams as they work on bringing back a winning culture.

The Blues will look to apply what they learned from their 3-2 losses to the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers this week when they play the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

St. Louis took Edmonton to overtime before losing 3-2 on Tuesday, and then lost to Florida 3-2 on Thursday when the Panthers scored a goal with 12 seconds left in the game.

“That’s a (Panthers) team that’s won the Stanley Cup, went to the Stanley Cup Final, they know who they are,” Montgomery said. “They know how they want to play. Pucks go to the goal line, they get in on the forecheck, they get heavy, and they’re just relentless. It’s over and over and over. Really good at it.

“We have to establish that kind of regularity with our identity.”

By losing the first two games of their three-game homestand before the NHL break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Blues are now 11-14-2 at home this season. They are 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist found some comfort in the fact that his team made the Oilers and Panthers work hard for their wins.

“We’re playing two of the best teams in the league, and I think we’re playing two good hockey games against them,” Sundqvist said. “If we come out of that second period (Thursday) a goal or two up, it can be a whole different game.

“We take with us that we were playing two really good hockey teams, and we’re right there. We just need that last percent to tip it over to wins.”

The Blackhawks are 3-6-4 in their last 13 games. They are coming to St. Louis after a 6-2 home win against the Nashville Predators on Friday.

Chicago’s point leader, Connor Bedard, had a goal and an assist against Nashville, giving him nine goals and 13 assists in his last 21 games.

Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

“There’s a lot of pressure on him in general, but I think he puts more pressure on himself than anybody,” said Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen. “So I think he’s handling it terrifically.”

Bedard believes his overall game is improving in his second NHL season.

“Maybe the biggest thing is, stick battles and stuff, I feel pretty good in that area, whether it’s on the forecheck or in my own end or whatever,” Bedard said. “It’s something I worked on a lot over the summer and I feel like I’ve progressed.

“As the year goes on, maybe I can win more battles. I’ll try to keep building on that.”

Chicago forward Jason Dickinson missed Friday’s game due to an ankle sprain he got on Wednesday and will also miss Saturday’s game.

Since Petr Mrazek started in goal on Friday, the Blackhawks will likely start Arvid Soderblom against the Blues. Mrazek gave up six goals on 28 shots when the Blackhawks lost to the Blues 6-2 on Dec. 31 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

The Blues got strong production from defensemen Cam Fowler (two goals) and Justin Faulk (one goal, two assists) in that outdoor game.

St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 28 of 30 shots to win that game, and he will likely start again on Saturday before joining Team Canada for the 4 Nations event.

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Blues aim to end home slump against Oilers in St. Louis

Edmonton Oilers players celebrate after the win

After ending their six-game homestand on a tough note, the Edmonton Oilers will look to bounce back on the road when they face the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Edmonton lost the first game of their homestand, but then won three straight. However, they struggled in their last two games, losing 3-2 to Detroit in a shootout and falling 4-3 to Toronto on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs were up 3-0 midway through the second period, and Edmonton couldn’t complete their comeback despite scoring twice in the third to pull within a goal. The Oilers outshot Toronto 48-28, but still came up short.

“It was just one of those nights,” said Edmonton forward Corey Perry. “We might have been overzealous to get playing and it shuts our brains off. Those are just little things. You change those in the course of the game, and it can come back and haunt you.

“A couple turnovers led to penalties against and then their power play went to work. If we eliminate those turnovers, I think we would have had a better start. We played with the puck quite a bit tonight.”

The Oilers’ strong offense, averaging 3.29 goals per game, ranked sixth in the league heading into Monday.

“Once we started keeping it simple and getting on them, playing five-on-five, we were good, we were all over them,” said defenseman Evan Bouchard, who scored a goal in the loss, along with Perry and Zach Hyman.

The Blues are starting a stretch of six straight home games, with three of those before the 4 Nations Face-Off begins on February 12. They’ve struggled at home, with a record of 11-13-1 on their own ice.

Before beating the Utah Hockey Club 2-1 in Salt Lake City on Sunday, St. Louis had lost four straight by a combined score of 16-4.

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

Blues coach Jim Montgomery responded to the team’s struggles by putting winger Jordan Kyrou back with center Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich on the top forward line against Utah. The trio generated nine shots on goal, and Kyrou scored the game-winner.

“All the way from the start, all the way to the end, we played hard, we played aggressive, we played fast, we played with the puck,” said Kyrou. “We weren’t just throwing it away.”

Thomas is the Blues’ top playmaker, and Kyrou is the team’s primary shooter, so their chemistry was quickly restored.

“It’s kind of just old chemistry,” Kyrou said. “I kind of know when he’s looking, where he’s looking, so I just try to jump in those holes.”

The Oilers won the last matchup between these teams 4-2 on December 7 in Edmonton. Connor McDavid scored a goal and added an assist, while Leon Draisaitl had two assists for the Oilers.

Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner made 29 saves to get the win, while Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 21 shots for St. Louis.

The Oilers’ defense should get a boost on Tuesday with Mattias Ekholm returning to the blue line after missing Saturday’s game due to illness.

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NHL (National Hockey League)

Jordan Binnington Earns 18th Career Shutout in Blues’ 4-0 Victory in St. Louis

Jordan Binnington (NHL)

Jordan Binnington from Richmond Hill, Ontario earned his 18th career shutout in the NHL on Friday. He achieved this in a 4-0 victory for the St. Louis Blues against the Ottawa Senators at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Binnington made 20 saves to keep the Senators scoreless. He stopped six shots in the first period, seven in the second, and seven more in the third. Drake Batherson from New Minas, Nova Scotia, Brady Tkachuk, and Shane Pinto each led Ottawa with three shots on goal.

Blues captain Brayden Schenn from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan scored the game-winning goal at 7:26 in the first period, assisted by Dylan Holloway from Calgary, Alberta. Brandon Saad scored the other three goals for St. Louis. Robert Thomas from Aurora, Ontario, and defenseman Colton Parayko from St. Albert, Alberta, also contributed with assists.

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

This season, Binnington has 11 wins, 14 regulation losses, and three overtime losses. He also has three shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.79, and a save percentage of .899. His first shutout of the season came on November 27 in a 3-0 Blues win over the New Jersey Devils, and his second came on December 23 in a 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings.

All of Binnington’s 18 career shutouts have been with the Blues. With this victory, St. Louis now holds a record of 19 wins, 17 regulation losses, and four overtime losses for 42 points, sitting just two points behind the Vancouver Canucks for a playoff spot.