GDT #62: 2/25/12 > Blues @ Jets > 1:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

[dmiles2186]

Check out that first paragraph. 1) Twister got one of his 10 career goals the last time the Blues played in Winnipeg. And 2) All of the goal scorers for the (old) Jets that day played for the Blues at least once in their careers.

TV: CBC, FS-MW (HD)

Last 10: St. Louis 7-3-0; Winnipeg 6-3-1

In the Past: The Blues are traveling to Winnipeg to face the Jets for the first time since Jan. 24, 1996. The Blues won that game 6-5, getting goals from Shayne Corson, Geoff Courtnall, Dale Hawerchuk, Brett Hull, Brian Noonan and Tony Twist. Among the Jets' goal scorers were Mike Eastwood, Igor Korolev, Keith Tkachuk and Darren Turcotte, all of whom would play with the Blues at some point over the course of their careers.

Season Series: This is the only meeting of the season between the Blues and Jets. These franchises met twice in 2010-11, with St. Louis picking up a pair of wins over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Big Story: First-place Winnipeg Jets. It certainly has a nice ring to it around Manitoba, and while the reborn franchise only has a one-point lead in the Southeast Division and its pursuers all have multiple games in hand, the opportunity is clearly there for the Jets to not only bring playoff hockey back to Winnipeg for the first time in 16 years, but gain home ice for at least the first round by winning the division.

Team Scope:

Blues: Battling for positioning in the ultra-competitive Central Division and a top-four seed and home ice in the playoffs, St. Louis scored an important 3-2 shootout win Thursday in a visit to rival Nashville. It was the start of a six-game trip for the Blues, who have struggled away from Scottrade Center this season and will need to change those fortunes with 14 of their remaining 21 games on the road. T.J. Oshie and Andy McDonald scored in the penalty-shot tiebreaker while the Predators couldn't solve Jaroslav Halak on either of their attempts.

"I thought it was like two different games," coach Ken Hitchcock said in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I thought we were better than them in the first period, the overtime and the second half of the third. They were better in the second period and first half of the third. They had more energy. We seemed to hit the wall in the second period from (Wednesday) night's game.

"But man, we came back and gutted it out in the third. So it was a great, great way to start the road trip."

Jets: The final score made things look much closer than they actually were as Winnipeg "edged" Tampa Bay 4-3 on Thursday in a game the Jets led 4-0 after 40 minutes and 4-1 with one minute remaining. Andrew Ladd and Tanner Glass scored in the first period, Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien added power-play goals in the second and Ondrej Pavelec finished with 22 saves, faltering just slightly in the final moments. The Jets are now 3-0-1 halfway through an eight-game homestand and 19-9-3 overall at the MTS Centre.

"It's nice to be above (the playoff line), but we understand we still have a long way to go," Ladd said in the Winnipeg Free Press. "We're not going to be happy until the season's over and we're above the line. We need to keep taking advantage of playing at home here and playing some good hockey.

"We're scoring goals, our power play is clicking, but at the end of the day we've got 19 games left and we've got to keep going."

Who's Hot: Chris Stewart has goals in consecutive games for the Blues. … Blake Wheeler (1-10-11), Byfuglien (2-7-9) and Kane (5-3-8) all have five-game points streaks active for the Jets. Ladd (4-4-8) and Bryan Little (4-3-7) have four-game points streaks active.

Injury Report: St. Louis defenseman Kris Russell became the team's latest player to be sidelined with concussion-like symptoms. That includes forwards Alex Steen and Matt D'Agostini, who remain on injured reserve. Forward Jamie Langenbrunner is also out for the next month with a broken foot. … Winnipeg defenseman Zach Bogosian has missed the last five games, bothered by upper-body and foot injuries.

Stat Pack: The Blues have won their last two shootouts against the Devils and Predators after starting the season 1-6 in the skills competition. … Pavelec is in the top 10 among NHL goalies in games played (52 - sixth), minutes (3,002 - seventh), shots faced (1,557 - fourth) and saves (1,418 - fourth).

Puck Drop: Winnipeg coach Claude Noel told the Free Press that his team's work is only just beginning.

"We're not going to separate our shoulders patting ourselves on the back for being first in the division," he said. "We've played the most games in the League. We're happy we're there, we'll focus on St. Louis.

"We've just got to put this out there and see where it goes."

[cardsfan04]

Blues 3
Jets 1

[gaijin]

Put another mark in the Win column, please.

[DaDitka]

Let's make it two for two on consecutive Saturday afternoon games!

Halak with shutout #7

[glen a richter]

Blues 2
Jets 3

[WaukeeBlues]

Gotta admit, this is kinda cool with the Jets

Having said that... KILL!!!!

Blues 4
Jets 0

I call a shutout.

[sseagle]

Panger will say a bunch of gay things... the Blues should win?

[glen a richter]

7 home, 14 road remaining. Sweet Jesus that remaining schedule looks brutal just from a travel standpoint. What happens though is they'll either learn to get it done on the road or not learn to get it done on the road. Hopefully the former. The game v. Nashville was a good start and I'd love to see them keep it rolling today, but I just don't know.

[theohall]

That 7 game road trip in March is the brutal one. Play @ Carolina and Tampa, then go out to Anaheim, LA and Phoenix?? Very odd scheduling for that trip. At least this current trip is essentially going in one general direction as it works it's way to San Jose.

[cardsfan04]

7 home, 14 road remaining. Sweet Jesus that remaining schedule looks brutal just from a travel standpoint. What happens though is they'll either learn to get it done on the road or not learn to get it done on the road. Hopefully the former. The game v. Nashville was a good start and I'd love to see them keep it rolling today, but I just don't know.

That Nashville game is HUGE. Not just because we beat a team we are battling with. But, now we have Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. All three of those are very winnable games. If we can start the road trip off 4-0, that's pretty huge even if we falter against Vancouver and San Jose. A 4-2 roadtrip could be a big step for this team as it prepares for the playoffs.

[Getzkee]

Blues already silenced the loudest building in the league.

[goon attack]

You'd think that in the stupid Twister commercial with the Blackhawks fans, they'd find some real hot chicks to play the female Blues fans. Jeez.

[Oaklandblue]

Do NOT underestimate the Jets, we have to shut them down early or it's a wrap. That team's caught fire. I'd feel better having Ells between the pipes, the Jets will easily solve Halak.

With that said, Blues 1, Jets 0.
Goal by Stewart, unassisted.

[dmiles2186]

How did the Blues win that game?!

[gaijin]

Do NOT underestimate the Jets, we have to shut them down early or it's a wrap. That team's caught fire. I'd feel better having Ells between the pipes, the Jets will easily solve Halak.

With that said, Blues 1, Jets 0.
Goal by Stewart, unassisted.

You know that by the time you posted, the game was nearly over...

because we WON.

[glen a richter]

How did the Blues win that game?!

What happened was, in the shootout, Perron scored to win it.

[dmiles2186]

How did the Blues win that game?!

What happened was, in the shootout, Perron scored to win it.

NOH WEIGH!

[dmiles2186]

Also, Jaro Halak was awesome.

[cardsfan04]

My dad and I were texting about the game cuz I can't watch it at work. But, he was so impressed with Jaro's last save he felt the need to call me about it. Was it as phenomenal as he says?

[glen a richter]

My dad and I were texting about the game cuz I can't watch it at work. But, he was so impressed with Jaro's last save he felt the need to call me about it. Was it as phenomenal as he says?

I was listening to the KMOX feed but I think you're referring to the shootout save that apparently trickled towards the goal line? Under the circumstances I'd say it was both phenomenal and huge.

Still can't believe they played so piss poor and still managed to win. This shit won't fly against western conference opponents. Glad they got 2 road wins in a row, but god how about a little tightening up of the defense, eh?