The St. Louis Blues face the New Jersey Devils for the final time in 2019-20. They’re hoping for a similar result as the last game, minus a little effort perhaps.
The last time the St. Louis Blues took on the New Jersey Devils, they won by a seemingly comfortable score of 3-0. Jordan Binnington got the shutout, Ivan Barbashev had two goals and Jaden Schwartz added an insurance score.
However, the Blues had to fight for that win. They had almost 40 shots on goal to get those three goals.
Normally a goaltender that allows three goals has mediocre numbers for that game. Louis Domingue still had a .923 save percentage for that contest.
St. Louis will be hoping to expend a little less effort this time around. Every NHL game is tough and no opponent can be overlooked, etc and so on and other cliches, but the truth is the Devils are the second worst team in the Eastern Conference. Only Detroit is worse.
Domingue is no longer there either. He was traded to the Vancouver Canucks as an insurance backup since Jacob Markstrom is hurt.
St. Louis does have to focus on the Devils. They are not the worst in the league and capable on any night. Still, getting a win should not be as hard as it was the last time if the Blues are on their best.
How they stack up
The St. Louis Blues should be sending a thank you card to the Anaheim Ducks and not just for their treatment of Jay Bouwmeester. The Ducks OT win over Colorado took away one game in hand the Avs had on the Blues and now the difference in the standings is two points. That means if both teams won out, it would come down to that last game of the season and even if Colorado won, it would come down to tie-breaking scenarios since both teams would be tied on points.
Nevertheless, with the Blues having 15 games left, they are 40-17-10 with 90 points on the year. It seems hard to imagine the Blues not eclipsing 100 points on the year, but we will see.
St. Louis has scored 216 goals and allowed 185, with a plus-31 goal difference, second only to Colorado in the west. They are 8-2-0 in their last 10.
The Devils are 26-28-12 and in last place in the Metropolitan Division. Things are so crazy in the Metro right now that Philadelphia has climbed all the way up into a first place tie, but that’s another matter.
New Jersey has scored 177 goals on the year, but allowed 219. They’re hovering around .500 since they are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.
The Blues have won eight games in a row. New Jersey lost their last game, which was way back on Tuesday in Vegas.
Recent history is not on the side of the Devils. New Jersey has not defeated the Blues since a 7-1 win way back on January 21, 2014.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Schwartz – O’Reilly – Schenn
Sanford – Thomas – Perron
Steen – Bozak – Kyrou
Barbashev – Sundqvist – Blais
Defense
Faulk – Pietrangelo
Scandella – Parayko
Dunn – Bortuzzo
Goalie
Binnington
I still say this should be a good game to get Jake Allen some work, but it’s fine. The schedule in March is a little more condensed, so he’ll get some games.
It is good to see Jordan Kyrou back in the lineup. There was a suggestion by Chris Kerber the other day that he might have to wait awhile to return to the lineup, but this seems to suggest Craig Berube might not be down on him and he may have actually not been well.
Personally, I still do not get Sammy Blais on the fourth line. However, the team is clicking, so best not to worry about it too much at this point.
Prediction
Coincidentally enough, the Blues eight-game win streak began with their win against the Devils back in mid-February. As long as the team is focused, I don’t see them letting the streak end against whom it began.
The win will be the main focus, but it will be interesting to see if the hot players can stay hot. Brayden Schenn has goals in five straight games. Ivan Barbashev has four goals in his last three games against the Devils.
The Blues had a couple days off in the New York area, so they should be refreshed. The problem with that is days off have actually been bad for this team.
Even so, I think days off on the road can be good, especially at this time of year. The Blues may not be sharp but still find a way to get it done.
St. Louis beats New Jersey 3-1.