TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues wrap up a three-game road trip on Monday night when they visit the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.
The Blues enter Monday's game with a perfect 3-0 record on the season and are the only team in the League to still be undefeated. The team has remained perfect on the penalty kill, too, going 4-for-4 when the opponent has the man-advantage.
In their last game on Saturday, the Blues blanked the high-powered offense of the Edmonton Oilers, winning 2-0 thanks to a power-play goal from Torey Krug in the first period and an empty-net tally from Justin Faulk late in the third. Jordan Binnington turned aside 23 Oilers' shots for his 11th career shutout, which ties him with Grant Fuhr for seventh on the franchise shutout list.
"It was a real good effort by everybody on the team," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said after Saturday's win. "I think we limited their rush attack by having a good (third forward) in tight. We checked tonight, that was the difference and our special teams were 100 percent."
"We had a great game plan, attention to detail," added Krug. "We got one early and we were able to shut out their time and space. Our guys did a great job."
JETS New Head Coach Rick Bowness missed Winnipeg's first four games this season after testing positive for COVID-19, but he was back behind the bench to make his Jets' debut on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
John Tavares spoiled that though with two power-play goals, helping Toronto to a 4-1 win.
The loss put the Jets' record at 2-3-0 on the season. The team has wins over the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche but has dropped contests to Dallas, Vegas and Toronto.
Paul Stastny (Carolina Hurricanes), Evgeny Svechnikov (San Jose Sharks) and Zach Sanford (Nashville Predators) departed Winnipeg over the offseason. Cole Perfetti, the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft who played a portion of the season with Winnipeg last season, figures to have a bigger role in 2022-23. Perfetti is tied with Neal Pionk and Pierre-Luc Dubois for the team-led in points this season with four.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 1-2-1 against the Jets last season and are 4-2-1 in their last seven regular-season trips to Winnipeg.
The Blues have a power-play goal in four of their last five games against the Jets.
The clubs will meet four times this season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Jordan Binnington, who rocks a 3-0-0 record with a 1.65 goals-against average and a .940 save-percentage. Binnington is seven wins shy of becoming the sixth goaltender in franchise history to reach 100 wins as a Blue (Mike Liut, Jake Allen, Curtis Joseph, Grant Fuhr, Brian Elliott).
JETS Blake Wheeler, a veteran of 15 NHL seasons who returns to the Jets for his 13th year with the franchise (including the Atlanta Thrashers). Wheeler, who served as captain of the Jets but had that removed after Bowness opted for a season of alternate captains, has three assists in five games.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have won three straight games to begin the season for just the seventh time in franchise history. Last season, the Blues set a franchise record by winning their first five games… Vladimir Tarasenko leads the Blues with six points (two goals, four assists) this season… Justin Faulk leads the team with three goals. Logan Brown (injured) was available to play on Saturday against Edmonton, but Berube opted to give him more time to recover. Brown is expected to be available Monday in Winnipeg.
Getting back up to top offensive speed won't be easy for the slumping Winnipeg Jets when they host the St. Louis Blues Monday.
The Jets have lost three of their last four games while scoring just four times in those defeats. The defensive-minded Blues come into Winnipeg with a 3-0-0 record and just five goals allowed.
Winnipeg will once again play without top-line winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who remains on injured reserve. Mason Appleton has filled in for him on that line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
"We're early in the season. I think we know the type of talent we have in our locker room and the offense we possess here," Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said after his team fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday. "And I think there's no need for (frustration) this early on. We've had some nights where we're playing -- and first of all, we're playing against good teams in our league right now that aren't giving up much.
"When you're looking at the way they defended, they defended hard. Their neutral zone especially. We're still getting used to our system and as we get comfortable, that offense is going to come, and, as I said, we're not worried about that at all."
The Blues could offer a challenge similar to what the Jets faced against Toronto, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars this season. St. Louis is coming off a 2-0 shutdown of the explosive Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
"It was a real good effort by everybody on the team," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think that we limited their rush attack by having good (neutral zone coverage) and being tight. We checked well tonight. That's the difference in the game. We checked well."
Blues defenseman Nick Leddy noted his team's special attention paid for elite Edmonton forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
"They're some of the best players in the world," Leddy said. "The speed that (McDavid) can play at. Draisaitl, the way he can slow the play down and make those plays. They're two tough guys to play against. But if you have that good team defense, and frustrate them as much as you can, it's a recipe for success."
The Blues could once again be without top-line winger Pavel Buchnevich, who has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury.
"We'll have to re-evaluate it, or hopefully a little rest will help," Berube said.
Against the Oilers, Berube played 11 forwards and seven defensemen while giving blue-liner Calle Rosen just 5:19 of ice time in his first action of the season.
"(Rosen) didn't get a ton of ice time," Berube said. "But the six guys that played all the minutes, they did a great job. They defended hard. They kept them on the outside. And they made good puck plays out of our ends."
Forward Logan Brown could play his first game of the season after recovering from his preseason shoulder injury.
Goaltender Jordan Binnington started the first three games of the season, so Berube may turn to backup Thomas Greiss as his team concludes its three-game road trip.
