After climbing back into the Western Conference playoff race, the St. Louis Blues are taking their postseason quest on the road for six consecutive games.
That challenging stretch will begin in Dallas on Sunday against the Stars.
“It’s an opportunity to go on the road with travel, there’s a lot of things going against us (Sunday) night, but that’s where we’ve got to find another level,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.
The Blues extended their season-long winning streak to four games Saturday with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. St. Louis has earned a point in eight of its past nine games (6-1-2) to tighten the race and move within one point of the second wild card in the conference.
Robert Thomas had an assist and has 13 points (four goals and nine assists) in his nine-game point streak. Linemate Pavel Buchnevich has a six-game streak with two goals and seven assists.
“It’s very enjoyable to watch our team play as committed as they are for each other,” Montgomery said. “It’s very selfless hockey going on right now, how excited the bench gets no matter who scores, the blocked shots at the end, the unselfish changes, changing at the right time, middle-lane drives, boxing out at the net, sacrificing for each other, all those things make it fun to watch right now.”
Jordan Binnington earned the victory in goal for the Blues on Saturday, so Joel Hofer is likely to start on Sunday.
The Stars opened their four-game homestand by routing the Kings 6-2 on Friday for their fourth victory in their past five games.
Forwards Jason Robertson (six goals, three assists in five games) and Roope Hintz (goal, six assists in three games) have been driving the offense.
Forward Logan Stankoven scored twice against the Kings after getting just one goal in his previous 14 games, dating to Jan. 16.
“It was great to see him get a couple of goals,” Hintz said. “He’s had so many good looks. Sometimes there’s times that it just doesn’t go in, so it’s great to see him get a couple today. He’s a great player, he works hard, makes great plays. It’s fun to play with him.”
Stars coach Peter DeBoer said he figured it was just a matter of time before Stankoven broke through.
“Everyone goes through those times,” DeBoer said. “You got to try not to think about that, live in the moment, and keep your head in there and not get frustrated.”
Stankoven kept plugging away during his scoring slump.
“I think it’s just consistent work for me,” he said. “First one on the ice for practices and trying to be the last one off the ice, so it’s just continuous work. It’s nice to see it pay off for once.”
The Stars are 2-0 against the Blues this season, with a 2-1 overtime victory on Dec. 14 with Jake Oettinger in goal and 2-0 in St. Louis on Jan. 25 with Casey DeSmith in the nets.
–Field Level Media
