The St. Louis Blues are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, while the Montreal Canadiens are doing the same in the East.
As a result, their showdown Tuesday night in St. Louis will have outsized importance.
The Blues (37-28-7, 81 points) are riding a six-game winning streak into this matchup. They earned a pair of 4-1 victories over the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators on Saturday and Sunday.
St. Louis has suffered just two regulation losses since Feb. 8. They have gone 13-2-2 over that span.
“We believed in ourselves the whole way,” Blues center Robert Thomas said about his team’s recent success. “We thought we were playing pretty good hockey for a good chunk of the year and weren’t getting the results. We stuck with it and now we’re getting those results. Been really impressed, especially with our third periods. The last two games, our third periods have been really good.
“That’s what teams with confidence, good teams, do to keep on winning.”
The Canadiens (33-27-9, 75 points) have also been red-hot, earning points in 12 of the last 13 games (8-1-4). They erased a three-goal third-period deficit against the Colorado Avalanche Saturday before losing 5-4 in a shootout.
“We have a very confident group right now,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I found we came in waves in the third. It wasn’t just one line. We came in waves, and I think we gave them trouble.”
The Blues rolled with the same lineup since the 4 Nations Face-Off break until illnesses and minor injuries finally forced some changes.
Forwards Pavel Buchnevich (illness) and Oskar Sundqvist sat out Sunday’s game, as did defenseman Nick Leddy. The Blues’ top forward prospect Dalibor Dvorsky made his NHL debut while forward Alexandre Texier and defenseman Matthew Kessel were also plugged into the lineup.
The Blues have allowed just nine goals during their six-game streak with Montgomery using both Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer in goal.
“As a D-core, we’re confident,” Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said. “We’ve got a lot of older guys back there, a couple younger guys, but they’re playing well. They’ve stepped in and they’re doing their job.
“When you got two goalies playing behind you as well, that helps the group. It calms the group. We’re feeling good and hopefully it keeps rolling.”
Montreal has staged comebacks in its last three games while staying in the playoff fight. The Canadiens’ late push to force overtime against the talented Avalanche was especially impressive.
“We believe, in here, that we can play against anyone,” Montreal forward Juraj Slafkovsky said.
“It’s easy to roll over, and that’s just not what we do on our team,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said on Saturday. “The guys just kept battling, getting chances. We really took over the game and we could have probably got a few more in the third. So it’s a big point.”
The Canadiens won the earlier meeting between the teams 5-2 on Oct. 26 in Montreal. Jake Evans, Kirby Dach and Joel Armia each had a goal and an assist in that game.
–Field Level Media
