BLUES
The St. Louis Blues will be looking to snap out of a rough stretch on Monday when they open a home-and-home set against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Blues are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games and have dropped two straight after starting last week with an impressive 5-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Pavel Buchnevich scored twice on Saturday night against Carolina, but that was all the offense the Blues could muster in their last outing, where they fell 7-2 to the Hurricanes - although that did include two empty-net goals for Carolina.
"Wins are tough right now," a frustrated Brayden Schenn said after the game. "You've got to be able to grind this time of year, and we're just not doing enough of it."
The Blues will wrap up their three-game homestand Monday against the Canucks before traveling to Vancouver for a rematch on Wednesday.
CANUCKS
The Vancouver Canucks are battling to climb into the playoff picture in a competitive Western Conference.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Canucks were just five points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference - and they had a game in-hand.
Vancouver has collected points in four straight games entering Monday's contest. They've gone 2-0-2 in that stretch, which includes wins against the Colorado Avalanche and most recently, the Dallas Stars.
J.T. Miller leads the Canucks in scoring with 80 points (28 goals, 52 assists) this season - a whopping 27 better than the second-place Quinn Hughes, who has potted 53 points (five goals, 48 assists).
Since taking over behind the Canucks bench, Head Coach Bruce Boudreau is 24-11-7 with a .655 win-percentage.
HEAD-TO-HEAD Monday's matchup will be the second meeting between the Blues and Canucks this season. The Blues won the first matchup 3-1 in Vancouver on Jan. 23.
The Blues are 3-1-1 in their last five meetings with the Canucks and 5-1-1 in the last seven meetings at Enterprise Center.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES David Perron, who has 13 goals in his last 12 games. Perron had an eight-game point streak (10 goals, four assists) snapped on Saturday against the Hurricanes.
CANUCKS Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the long-time Arizona Coyote who was dealt to the Canucks at the 2021 NHL Draft. Ekman-Larsson has 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in his first season in Vancouver.
BLUE NOTES
Buchnevich recorded his 100th career goal on Saturday night against Carolina. Nick Leddy collected his first point as a Blue with an assist on Buchnevich's first goal… Vladimir Tarasenko is just three points shy of 500 in his NHL career... Five of the Blues' next six games will come against Pacific Division opponents. St. Louis is 11-3-2 against Pacific teams this season.
The Vancouver Canucks will continue their push for a Western Conference playoff spot when they visit the slumping St. Louis Blues on Monday.
The Canucks have gone 2-0-1 on their current four-game road trip, which concludes against the Blues.
Meanwhile, the Blues have gone 1-3-2 in their last six games, and 3-6-3 since the beginning of March, to slide into third place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Nashville Predators in advance of play Sunday.
Vancouver's 4-1 victory at Dallas on Saturday lifted its point total to 73 and kept the team within three points of the Vegas Golden Knights for the final Western Conference wild-card playoff berth. The Canucks also moved within four points of the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division and within five points of the Predators for the first wild-card slot.
"You've got to bring confidence every night," Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko said. "(Opponents) are too good. They're going to expose you. You try to go into every game with the same mindset. The outcome is not really in your control. You can just focus on each individual moment, each shot, each chance against, and go from there."
Elias Pettersson scored twice for the Canucks against the Stars, giving him three goals and six assists in his last nine games. Vancouver's top line of Pettersson, captain Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser has led the recent charge.
"Lately, I've been feeling good," Pettersson said. "Me, Bo, and Brock are taking steps every game. Whenever I get the chance, I will try to score. Lately, I've been feeling better, especially with shooting, too."
Pettersson regained his offensive confidence after Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach Dec. 5.
"I think I told him, especially, to shoot the puck," Boudreau said. "He's got such a great shot ... and he doesn't use it. He wants to be a playmaker most of the time, and when he shoots the puck, they go in."
The Blues are coming off a 7-2 loss at home to the Carolina Hurricanes. Blues coach Craig Berube did see some positive signs in the humbling defeat.
"Third period, I thought we were the better team," Berube said. "We pulled the goalie early and they scored two empty-net goals and that was the end of it. But the way we played the third is the way we have to play hockey, in my opinion. We were way more aggressive, on our toes, heavier to play against, heavier sticks, direct, north. Just had the will.
"I didn't think our start was that bad to be honest with you, but we did fall behind. First period was OK. Second period, we get scored on there pretty quick. I thought that had a real impact on our team that period."
The Blues have been struggling to regain the defensive form that helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2019.
What has been missing?
"Just the buy-in to playoff style of hockey," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. "Wins are tough now. You've got to be able to grind this time of year, and we're just not doing enough of it."
