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 [December 27, 2023]
The St. Louis Blues went into their holiday break on a high
note by rallying for a 7-5 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on
Saturday.
They scored five unanswered goals to erase a 5-2 third-period
deficit and improve to 4-1 under interim coach Drew Bannister. The
Blues will try to extend that upturn Wednesday when they host the
Dallas Stars.
"We're feeling good about ourselves going into the break," Bannister
said. "That group in there has been through a tough time in the last
week to 10 days with everything that's gone on. They've found a way
to dig in and play some really good hockey. They've willed their way
to a 4-1 record."
Maintaining momentum won't be easy. The next eight Blues games
mostly will be played against potential Stanley Cup contenders.
The biggest change Bannister made after replacing Craig Berube as
coach was to reunite wingers Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich with
center Robert Thomas on the top forward line.
Kyrou has four goals and four assists in the five games since the
change. Thomas has three goals and seven assists and Buchnevich has
three goals and four assists.
The Blues have scored four power-play goals in their last four games
after scoring just seven times with the man advantage during their
first 29 games.
St. Louis opened its season with a 2-1 shootout road loss to the
Stars on Oct. 12. They evened this Central Division season series
with a 4-3 overtime victory over Dallas on Dec. 16.
Kyrou had a goal and two assists in the latter game and Thomas had
two assists.
The Stars have won three straight games and earned at least a point
in six straight games (5-0-1). Their 20-8-4 record is tied for the
fourth-best record after 32 games in franchise history.
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They went into the break with a dramatic 3-2 road
victory over the Nashville Predators. They scored twice in the final
15 seconds to steal that game.
"We didn't have our best tonight for the first 40
minutes, but we found a way to get it done," Dallas forward Matt
Duchene said. "I thought in the third period we were the better
team. We kind of turned the game. (Juuse Saros) is such a good
goalie, you need some decent bounces to get it. Luckily we got one
there to tie it up."
Stars coach Peter DeBoer scrambled his lines in that game, breaking
up the top line of Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski flanking Roope
Hintz. Robertson joined Tyler Seguin and Duchene, Pavelski moved
onto a line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston and Hintz centered
Mason Marchment and Evgenii Dadonov.
DeBoer can mix and match lines because Dallas features a balanced
offensive attack with nine players on pace to score 20 or more
goals.
Scott Wedgewood (9-1-2, 3.08 goals-against average) has made five
consecutive starts in goal in place of the injured Jake Oettinger.
--Field Level Media
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