The St. Louis Blues are finally seeing a payoff for their progress made since Jim Montgomery took over as head coach in November.
They will carry their first three-game winning streak of the season into a Saturday night home game against the Los Angeles Kings.
“I think everybody here believes in each other,” St. Louis defenseman Philip Broberg said. “We’ve just got to keep building, taking steps and keep working.”
Before defeating the Capitals 5-2 in Washington on Thursday night, the Blues had gone 0-7-1 while trying to win their third straight game this season.
The Blues have earned at least a point in seven of their past eight games, going 5-1-2. They earned three of the possible four points against the NHL’s top two teams, the Winnipeg Jets and the Capitals.
“At times we’ve been playing some good hockey, but recently we’ve been playing awesome,” Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. “We’re playing the right way. All four lines are buzzing and playing honest.
“As long as we keep going, playing the right way, I think we can go on a little run.”
Blues center Robert Thomas carries an eight-game point streak into the game against the Kings. He has four goals and eight assists during that span.
St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko has scored a career-high 14 goals this season, with eight coming in his last 19 games. Defenseman Cam Fowler has two goals and three assists in his past five games.
The Kings had their seven-game point streak (5-0-2) snapped Friday night with a 6-2 road loss against the Dallas Stars. They allowed two power-play goals and a short-handed goal while getting blanked on four man-advantage opportunities, so special teams will be a focus as they face the Blues for the first of three meetings in a span of eight days.
Los Angeles ranks 30th among the 32 NHL teams with a 14.7 percent power-play conversion rate.
“You’ve got to make plays under pressure,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “When there’s a chance to make a play under pressure, you have to make a play. That’s throughout the league. That’s not our power play, that’s every power play.
“We haven’t, for a long time, consistently.”
Cornerstone Kings defenseman Drew Doughty returned to the lineup Friday after sitting out one game with a lower-body injury, but it was unclear whether he would be able to play the second half of a back-to-back set on Saturday.
Hiller has continued shuffling his forward lines at even strength. Against the Stars, he deployed the trio of Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala while looking to generate a more dynamic offense.
“I think with us three, we can do anything,” Fiala said. “We’re fast players, so that means rush plays are there for sure, but also down low, we’re strong on pucks.”
They didn’t produce against the Stars, though, finishing with no points. Warren Foegele and Trevor Moore scored the Kings’ goals.
Darcy Kuemper started in goal for Los Angeles in Dallas, so the Kings are likely to come back with David Rittich against the Blues. Since Joel Hofer started for St. Louis in Washington, Jordan Binnington is likely to oppose the Kings.
–Field Level Media
