TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues kept rolling Thursday, posting a League-record 13th comeback win with a 2-1 victory against the visiting Seattle Kraken at Enterprise Center.
The team collected a point in its 13th consecutive home game (12-0-1) despite playing without David Perron, Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, Colton Parayko and Scott Perunovich due to COVID protocols. Before the game, the team also lost Logan Brown to a non-COVID related illness.
"You're not always going to get the lead," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said after the game, referencing the Blues trailing 1-0 entering the third period for the second straight game. "It's nice to get the lead. Things happen, and you know, you get bad bounces, whatever it is. You've got to just stay with it and keep pushing. I think our guys are good at that."
The Blues will lose another player to COVID protocols Saturday after Pavel Buchnevich tested positive on Friday. Buchnevich has been one of the teams hottest players of late, recording 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his last 10 games.
Berube said Friday it was too soon to tell whether any of the players still in protocol would be available for the game against the Maple Leafs.
"We've got some guys that feel good and want to play, but until you test out or your days are up, that's the only way you can (return)," Berube said. "Right now, I'm not sure who is available out of those guys."
The Blues will look to extend their home point streak to 14 games, which would match the second-best mark in team history. The franchise record is 21 games (18-0-3), which was set during the 2011-12 season.
MAPLE LEAFS The Toronto Maple Leafs will make their first trip to St. Louis of the season on Saturday night.
The teams were originally supposed to meet on Dec. 23, but that game was postponed when the NHL and NHLPA decided to stop cross-border travel prior to the Holiday break.
Toronto has a record of 23-9-3 this season (49 points), which is good for third in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and 9-5-2 this season on the road.
Toronto is coming off a 2-1 loss Wednesday in Arizona.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Robert Thomas, who scored in Thursday's win vs. Seattle. Thomas leads the Blues with 24 assists this season and is currently on the NHL's Last Men In ballot as a candidate to play in the 2022 NHL All-Star Game. Voting ends Monday at 10:59 p.m.
MAPLE LEAFS Auston Matthews, who set a team record Wednesday by scoring in his ninth consecutive road game on Wednesday. Matthews' 38 points (24 goals, 14 assists) leads the Maple Leafs this season.
The St. Louis Blues will try to extend their 13-game home point streak Saturday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Blues are 12-0-1 during this surge at Enterprise Center. Since Nov. 26, they are 12-3-3 overall.
They have done it by leading the league with 13 come-from-behind victories this season.
"It's something we talk about a lot because if you want to be a real good team, you've got be able to come back in games and come from behind and win," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think it's obviously really important."
The Blues trailed the Seattle Kraken 1-0 in the third period Thursday before rallying to win 2-1 on goals by Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. They won despite missing forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, David Perron and Brayden Schenn along with defensemen Colton Parayko and Scott Perunovich due to COVID-19 protocol.
James Neal came off the taxi squad and Nathan Walker and Calle Rosen came up from the AHL to fill in against the Kraken. Logan Brown has been out with a non-COVID illness and Buchnevich went into the protocol Friday, which led to Dakota Joshua's return from the AHL.
"We got guys that come in and fill in and do the job," Berube said. "That's what it's really about. Everybody just needs to go and do their job. And we got guys that whether it's from the minors, or guys like a Neal -- he hasn't played much, but he comes in and they just do the job."
The Leafs have played just five games since Dec. 14 due to pandemic postponements. They are 3-1-1 in that span, but are coming off a 2-1 loss at Arizona despite outshooting the struggling Coyotes 46-18.
"It seemed like we hit a wall there and stopped playing for a good chunk of time in that third period," Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said after their second game in two nights. "No life, no energy on our bench at a time when we needed it. So that, to me, is a sign of fatigue."
On the plus side for the Leafs, Auston Matthews set a team record by scoring a goal in nine straight road games.
"He continues to make it happen," John Tavares said. "Teams obviously are game-planning for him, and his ability to raise to the challenge, look forward to that challenge, adapt his game and find different ways to create opportunities.
"Not surprising, hitting a franchise record like that. When it's all said and done, he's gonna have quite a few."
The previous record of eight was set 100 years ago by Babe Dye, and matched in 1961 by Frank Mahovolich and in 1989 by Daniel Morois.
The Maple Leafs hope to have more firepower for this game. Forwards Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall came out of COVID-19 protocol and rejoined the team for practice Friday.
"Two big impact players," Tavares said. "Guys that are key parts of our lineup. Mitchy is one of the best wingers in the league and plays in every situation for us, a guy we count on, and Pierre continues to mature and make an impact for us."
Jordan Kyrou has a six-game point streak for the Blues with five goals and seven assists in that span. Teammate Torey Krug also has a six-game point streak with two goals and five assists.
