By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues should be anxious and raring to go tonight.
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues should be anxious and raring to go tonight.
Playing for the first time in 12 days, the Blues (26-13-5) return from their post All-Star break to host the New Jersey Devils (16-26-5) at 7 p.m. today (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM) in a makeup date from a game originally scheduled Dec. 27 but was postponed due to a Devils COVID-19 outbreak.
The Blues will hit the ice for the first time since a 4-1 setback against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 29 and are raring to resume the race to the finish in what is turning out to be a frantic close to the season with 38 games remaining and the Central Division a mad scramble.
"Coming into the season, I think we knew that," captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "We knew how tough our division is. There's never an easy game. For us, I think we had a good break. I think there's a lot of energy we have right now and it's time to start building it. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Playoffs is the focus, but it's taking it one game at a time and putting it into little details and getting ready for that playoff style every game. It's an exciting time of year, we're healthy, we've got such a good, deep group, it's time to go win games and be a hard team to play against.
"... Looking at the standings, we know that. In order to get these points, it's not looking at it and saying, 'Oh, we want three out of four or six out of 10.' It's taking it one game at a time and putting our best game out there every time and leaving it out there and competing that way. When you do that, that's when you find ways to win games and get points. It's an exciting time of year. We're digging down deep and games are more intense and they're fun to play in. Looking forward to it."
That means beating the teams that are below you in the standings and ones that you should beat. The Devils, coming off a 7-1 win against lowly Montreal, had lost their previous seven games (0-7-0) and 11 of their previous 13 (2-11-0).
The Blues will come out with a fresh outlook.
"It's nice to get a little mental break, physical break, kind of reset," forward Brayden Schenn said. "Realistically, this is the best time to be playing hockey leading into the playoffs. These are the fun games. They're competitive, they're tight so it just kind of gives you that little hit the reset button before you start playing hockey again."
As odd as it seems, the Blues will be coming out of this break relatively healthy with everyone at their disposal.
Only defenseman Scott Perunovich (upper-body injury) is not available and will miss his seventh straight game tonight after taking the ice Wednesday prior to practice in a non-contact red jersey, but everyone is healthy and ready to go.
"That's the feeling around the locker room right now," forward Oskar Sundqvist said. "We've got almost a full squad, like you said, Perunovich is out, but other than that, we've got a full lineup and we're very excited to see what we can bring, especially all the forwards. I don't think we've had a full forward squad for too many games. We're excited to see what we can bring to the table."
"It's exciting for us to have everyone in our lineup," Schenn said. "Guys capable of obviously playing everywhere all over our lineup. What we need down the stretch here us buy-in, and that's buy-in to roles and buy-in to the other team and realistically when that happens, good things happen for the team and the organization, and that's when you win more hockey games and ultimately, it all sorts itself out and guys have success by doing that. We have a good team here, we have a deep roster, and we've got to make sure we buy into the team aspects, which we have thus far this year."
The Blues are in good shape as far as offensive production goes, scoring 3.43 goals per game, which is sixth in the NHL; defensively, they're tied for seventh in the NHL allowing 2.70 goals per game, and specialty teams are doing well too, second in the NHL at 28.5 percent on the power play and fifth in penalty kill at 84.3 percent, but they still want to tighten things up defensively and be even more dominant in that area.
"It just starts in front of our net, limiting slot chances for the opposing team and that's not just on one or two guys, that's a five-man effort and everyone on the ice plays a role in that," defenseman Torey Krug said. "A lot of times you look at it as just a defenseman or just the goalies need to step up, but a lot of times it's your wingers and your centermen do a big job of that too, or a good job. We need everyone or all five guys to just switch the attitude and commit to defense. If we do that, we're going to have a lot of chances to win hockey games down the stretch here."
"Tighter defensively, helping our goalies out and not giving so many Grade A chances," Schenn added. "I think as the final 35-40 games or whatever you have left here, you have to be stingy defensively and that's how you're going to win. We know we can score goals, we have firepower in there. Everyone can contribute every night, but I think what guys can do, maybe if you're not scoring one night, you've got to be able to play defense and as a group and as a whole, what's what we've got to focus on."
At times it's been good, and at times it's been too inconsistent.
"Absolutely, yeah. Hit the nail on the head there," Krug said. "At times it looks great and other times it doesn't. Luckily for us the times it hasn't, I think our goalies have done a great job coming through for us. Give them a lot of credit for keeping us going straight forward when things don't look so well. You're right with that."
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The flow is the go.
Or at least it has been for Sundqvist for quite some time now.
For those that haven't noticed, and if you haven't, please have your eyes checked, Sundqvist has allowed his hair to go, and it's given him, dare I say it, a surfer boy look.
"I don't know when it started. I think I haven't cut it since I tore my (left) ACL," Sundqvist said of his injury that occurred March 19, 2021. "I might get a haircut here soon. We'll see if it's going to be a bit change or a small change. I haven't decided yet."
So by my count, that's 328 days. Or 7,881 hours. Or 472,860 minutes. We won't even bother with the seconds.
Plain and simple, it's a long time.
And his mother, Asa, naturally, has applied her input. As any mother would.
"My mom doesn't really love it," Sundqvist said. "She keeps asking me every day if I'm getting a hair cut or not. She'll be fine. She doesn't see me that often, only on Facetime, so she can survive."
Every day?
"I wouldn't say every other, but she keeps asking me when I'm going to get a haircut so we'll see," Sundqvist said. "It's probably coming here soon. ... She wants me to have short hair, so we'll see if I go short or if I'm fixing it up a little bit."
But his girlfriend doesn't mind.
"Yeah, she does, so she doesn't mind it," Sundqvist said.
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* The Blues have won 12 of the last 13 matchups against the Devils. At Enterprise Center, the Blues have won eight straight dating back to 2010, with New Jersey's last win in St. Louis was Dec. 30, 2008.
* Forward Vladimir Tarasenko has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 11 career games against the Devils.
* Forward and All-Star Jordan Kyrou has 17 points his past 13 games (eight goals, nine assists).
* Forward Ivan Barbashev has 15 pts (five goals, 10 assists) his past 15 games.
* O’Reilly has 10 points in his past 10 games (five goals, five assists).
* Forward Brandon Saad needs one goal for 200 in his NHL career.
* Goalie Jordan Binnington, who will get the start tonight, just his second start the past seven games, is 2-1-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .916 save percentage in three games against the Devils.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Brayden Schenn-Ryan O'Reilly-Pavel Buchnevich
Jordan Kyrou-Robert Thomas-Vladimir Tarasenko
Brandon Saad-Ivan Barbashev-David Perron
Klim Kostin-Tyler Bozak-Oskar Sundqvist
Niko Mikkola-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella-Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Logan Brown, Dakota Joshua and Jake Walman. Scott Perunovich (upper body) remains out.
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The Devils' projected lineup:
Yegor Sharangovich-Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt
Jesper Boqvist-Pavel Zacha-Jimmy Vesey
Andreas Johnsson-Dawson Mercer-Tomas Tatar
Mason Geertsen-Michael McLeod-Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler-Damon Severson
Ty Smith-P.K. Subban
Colton White-Ryan Graves
Jon Gillies will start in goal; Nico Daws will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Marian Studenic, Janne Kuokkanen and Christian Jaros. Miles Wood (hip), Dougie Hamilton (jaw), Mackenzie Blackwood (heel) and Jonathan Bernier (lower body) are out with injuries. Jack Hughes will not play due to COVID-19 protocol.
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