Some stellar play away from home has the St. Louis Blues enjoying their most successful stretch of the season.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets have been solid at home, of late.
A pair of teams looking to remain relevant in the playoff race meet Sunday when the Blues try to win a sixth straight road contest.
Like Winnipeg, St. Louis sits on 64 points, and both have three teams to hurdle in the Western Conference standings just to reach playoff position. However, the Blues remain in the playoff hunt thanks to a 6-0-1 mark in March.
The Blues have allowed just 12 goals this month, won all five road games in March and rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period against Edmonton on Friday to post a 3-2 home victory in overtime.
“We’re obviously feeling good,” said St. Louis forward Robert Thomas, who scored Friday’s winner with 9 seconds remaining in overtime.
“We’re playing confident, and we’re really using our strengths. … We’re just clicking right now and really confident (in) coming in and winning every game.”
Thomas has six goals with eight assists during a nine-game point streak. All but two of those contests have come on the road.
Defenseman Cam Fowler has seven points in the last six games for the Blues, who have posted three one-goal victories this month.
St. Louis’ Joel Hofer has stopped 82 of 87 shots faced in his last two starts and is 5-0-1 with a 1.64 goals-against average and .948 save percentage since the Olympic break. Meanwhile, teammate Jordan Bennington has stopped 54 of 57 shots he’s seen in winning his last two starts after losing eight in a row.
Hofer saved 37-of-39 while St. Louis split the first two season meetings with the Jets. The Blues yielded just 16 shots on goal at Winnipeg on Jan. 20, but the Jets won 3-1.
Thomas did not play in the contest while amid a 13-game absence due to a leg injury, but he has two goals and seven assists during an eight-game point streak against the Jets.
Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele had two goals with an assist in that January win over St. Louis. He notched a pair of assists on Saturday, while Kyle Connor collected a goal and an assist during the Jets’ 3-1 victory over Colorado to improve to 4-2-0 on their eight-game homestand.
Since Jan. 9, Winnipeg is 8-4-2 at home.
“If we play like (Saturday), we’ve got a shot (to make the playoffs),” Winnipeg’s star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck told The Athletic.
“Now, we’ve just got to bring consistency and put that same effort on the ice every night and see what happens.”
Hellebuyck, who stopped 28 shots versus Colorado, has made eight straight starts, and owns a 2.35 goals-against average on this homestand. It’s possible Hellebuyck could again be in net Sunday despite this back-to-back scenario and that backup Eric Comrie has stopped 93 of 98 shots during his four-start winning streak.
Scheifele has five goals with 15 assists in the last 14 games. Connor has recorded 16 points over the same span.
–Field Level Media
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