St. Louis Blues Return To Scene Of The Crime In Winnipeg

The St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets are coming off tough losses. The Blues are hoping the city of Winnipeg treats them as well as it has in recent times.

Winnipeg Jets fans might have the Manitoba police on speed dial as soon as the St. Louis Blues crossed the provincial border. The Blues have stolen victories from the Jets the last couple times they have played in the Bell MTS Place.

Of course, Blues fans remember well the big playoff comebacks achieved in Winnipeg. Jaden Schwartz scoring in the final minute of regulation was the ultimate robbery when the Jets thought they had a win in hand just minutes prior.

Including playoffs, the Blues have won their last five games in Winnipeg. All of them were one-goal differences.

The most recent one came just after the Christmas break. St. Louis stole another one north of the border, winning 5-4 in overtime.

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The Blues now are hoping for a similar result to put a slightly positive spin on their current road trip. Things have not gone well in Canada for St. Louis.

The Blues are 0-2-1 since the All-Star break. They have played worse each game.

St. Louis actually played well enough to win despite a 3-1 loss to Vancouver. The Blues were poor defensively against Calgary, but had the will to win. Then last night in Edmonton, they were outdone in all phases of the game and careless turnovers to the wrong players did them in.

Perhaps some friendly digs will do them good.

How They Stack Up

Both teams are coming off a loss. The Blues lost 4-2 to Edmonton last night. Winnipeg fell 2-1 to Boston despite scoring the first goal of the game.

The Blues do still have an eight point lead for the division and the conference. However, more of that has to do with Colorado being in their bye week than anything. Colorado has three games in hand on the Blues.

The All-Star break cannot solely be blamed for the Blues troubles. They lost two in a row prior to the break, combining to get one win in their last five.

Meanwhile, the Jets have done worse. They have lost five in a row, tying them with the Chicago Blackhawks at 54 points and only two points ahead of Minnesota for last place in the division.

On top of the five in a row, the Jets have lost seven of eight. Their last win was back on January 14, a 4-0 win at home against Vancouver.

St. Louis has won four in a row against their divisional rival, dating back to the 2019 opening round. As mentioned, the Blues have won five in a row in Winnipeg.

The last time the Jets beat the Blues at home was October 22, 2018. Even that was a one-goal decision as these teams almost always play a tight game.

Of Note

Alex Steen will play in the 1000th game of his NHL career. Coincidentally, it will happen in the city where he grew up.

Steen’s father, Thomas Steen, played an entire 14-year career in Winnipeg. He amassed 264 goals and 817 points.

Alex might pass his father’s goal totals, since he has 243, but the points are out of reach. Still, it will be nice for his family to all be there to celebrate this milestone where the hockey journey began for them all.

Prediction

Given how poorly the Blues are playing, coupled with the fact they had almost an hour drive to the Edmonton airport and lost an hour due to timezone change, it is hard to see a Blues win.

Winnipeg did play last night, but it was at home, so they at least got more rest.

Even so, the Blues are a resilient bunch. If they can get out of their own way, they can still pick up a victory against a team that has fallen apart lately.

The Blues run of good form/luck in Winnipeg has to end sometime, but to quote Return of the King, it is not this day.

St. Louis squeaks by in Winnipeg again, 3-2.