TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues are hoping to keep building momentum as they reach the center point of this pivotal season-long road trip, looking for their fourth consecutive win on Monday in Vancouver.
Two hard-fought overtime wins on Monday and Thursday led the way to a wider margin of victory on Friday in Calgary. The Blues scored two goals just over one minute apart to pull away from the Flames and hand them their fifth straight loss in a 5-2 victory in their last outing.
Jordan Kyrou kept up his fiery pace of play, adding two goals and six shots on goal to help lead the offensive charge. Ten of Kyrou's 13 goals this season have come on the road, so he will be looking to keep up his impact in enemy territory at Rogers Arena on Monday.
The Blues went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill in Calgary, bringing their penalty-kill efficiency to 86.7 percent over their last four games - a mark that would rank No. 1 in the NHL through the season thus far.
The Blues bring a record of 15-15-1 to Vancouver, worth 31 points and fifth place in the Central Division.
CANUCKS The Vancouver Canucks struggled to get going out of the gate this season, losing their first seven games before recording their first win. Their schedule did not do them many favors - they had a five-game road trip to open the season as well as another five-game trip in early November.
After their 0-5-2 start, however, the Canucks seem to have leveled out to be a League-average team. Since the opening seven games, they have been No. 17 in the NHL in the standings while No. 5 in goals scored per game.
Similar to the Blues, the Canucks have played several high-intensity, close games in the last two weeks. They won three games in overtime and another in a shootout within their last six games, though will be most recently coming off a 5-1 loss to Winnipeg when they host the Blues.
Monday's game will be Vancouver's second of a three-game stand, continuing with Seattle - the Blues' Tuesday night opponent - on Thursday.
The Canucks have a season record of 13-14-3, worth 29 points and sixth place in the Pacific Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went a perfect 3-0 against the Canucks last season with a total goal differential of 11-5. Over their last 11 games in Vancouver, the Blues are 7-2-2 with wins in both of the last two.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Robert Thomas, whose two assists on Friday in Calgary brought his season total to a team-high 21. Thomas recorded three points across three games against the Canucks last season, including a shorthanded goal in his last visit to Vancouver.
CANUCKS Elias Pettersson, who scored overtime winners in consecutive games on Dec. 5 and 7. Pettersson's 34 points lead the Canucks this year, with seven coming in his last five games.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have not allowed a power-play goal in five straight matchups with the Canucks, going 14-for-14 in that span... The Blues are 8-2-0 against the Pacific Division this year, and all five games of the current road trip are against Pacific Division teams... The win in Edmonton on Thursday was the Blues' second multi-goal third-period comeback of the season. Vladimir Tarasenko's first career shorthanded goal forced overtime when he tied the game with 19 seconds left in regulation.
Blues hope for continued success in meeting with Canucks
A three-game winning streak has the St. Louis Blues believing their season is again back on track, with Monday's road clash with the Vancouver Canucks an opportunity to keep the good times rolling.
The Blues have had the league's wildest swings so far this season. After starting with three wins, they suffered an eight-game losing skid, enjoyed a seven-game winning spree and then went 2-7-1 before this mini-streak. Even after all that, St. Louis still has the opportunity to pull within a couple of points of a wild-card spot when they face the Canucks.
The Blues recently opened a five-game road trip with wins in Edmonton and Calgary on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
"It's a big road trip for us," forward Ivan Barbashev told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We need those wins, especially right now. That's what we're doing. We've got to keep building."
Having production throughout the roster has been a big part of this latest turnaround, and the line of Barbashev, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou has played a large role, combining for four of their team's six even-strength goals in their Alberta sweep.
"They're clicking," coach Craig Berube said. "They're ... using their speed, their abilities, and they're playing pretty direct, which is good. Making some good plays in the offensive zone and capitalizing off of it."
The Canucks are looking to regroup after Saturday's dismal 5-1 home loss to the Winnipeg Jets, a clash that ended with them being jeered off the ice by their fans.
The final score actually flattered the Canucks. The team was without a couple of key forwards in Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, who leads Vancouver in points with 34, due to illness.
Making the performance even worse was how well they played a couple of nights earlier in a victory over the Calgary Flames.
"It's more frustrating watching our team sometimes when you can go from great to whatever (Saturday night) was," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You try to build them up. You told them how good they played in Calgary and we did an awful lot of good things, and then we come here and it's not even the same team. It's hard to understand."
The Canucks, who started the season by losing seven games (0-5-2) have twice last week had the opportunity to pull above the .500 mark only to come up short.
"The best teams are the most consistent teams on a nightly basis," captain Bo Horvat said. "It was night and day from our game in Calgary and that's unacceptable."
Also unacceptable, or at least uninspiring, is the fact Vancouver has a six-game road winning streak but has lost five of its last seven home games, and those two wins were in overtime against non-playoff teams, the Arizona Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens.
"We've got to figure out how to play at home," defenseman Ethan Bear said. "Quite frankly, I just don't know what's going on. If I had the answer for it, I'd be sure to share it. It's really tough. . . just to see. We've got to stop having so much fun and just get to work because of what needs to be done."
