The red-hot St. Louis Blues shoot for their first 10-game winning streak since the 2019 Stanley Cup season when the Detroit Red Wings come to town Tuesday.
The Blues are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games after a 2-1 win over the host Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. St. Louis (40-28-7, 87 points) is comfortably in a Western Conference wild-card playoff spot.
“It’s the end of 10 (games) in 17 (days),” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said after Saturday’s win. “We went 9-1; we lost the first one. It’s very impressive what we’re doing right now. I thought the first period was a great period. I thought we had a lot of opportunities. Thought they did. It was offensive. Both teams tightened up in the second, and then in the third, I thought we executed really well.”
“There’s something going on special right now and it’s great to be a part of it.”
Pavel Buchnevich got the game-winner, breaking a 1-1 tie 8:54 into the third period. Zack Bolduc also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 28 saves.
Top prospect Jimmy Snuggerud will make his NHL debut on Tuesday for the Blues, who signed him to a three-year contract after the University of Minnesota’s NCAA season ended. Snuggerud, selected with the 23rd pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, led the Gophers with 24 goals and 27 assists in 40 games and stands as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award that goes to college hockey’s top player. His father, Dave Snuggerud, played six seasons in the NHL.
The Red Wings (34-33-6, 74 points) have lost four of their last six, but beat the visiting Boston Bruin 2-1 on Saturday. Detroit’s plans to stay in contention for the last Eastern Conference wild-card berth took a big hit in March, winning just four of 14 games.
“We have to stay on an even keel,” said goaltender Cam Talbot, who made 20 saves including a spectacular glove save on Casey Mittelstadt with 9.8 seconds left against the Bruins. “This is a big, emotional win, but we have to go on the road now and we can’t get too low or too high.
“If we keep playing our game, I like our chances.”
Talbot is one of the few Red Wings with a lot of playoff experience.
Marco Kasper and Lucas Raymond scored for Detroit. Raymond’s goal was his 26th and gave him a career-high 73 points.
“The games are just getting tighter and tighter towards the end of the year,” Raymond said after the Boston win. “You got to be able to lock games down and not just rely on offense. I think today was a good example of that. It’s a big win in a lot of different areas and something to build off coming into the next game.”
The Red Wings know they’ll face a big challenge on Tuesday night.
“We have to go on the road now to play a team that’s playing extremely well,” Talbot said. “Just staying on an even keel and playing within ourselves and our game. When we play our game, that’s when we’re successful. When we get away from it, that’s when we’re not. If we continue to play our game and play like that, I like our chances down the stretch.”
–Field Level Media
