BLUES The St. Louis Blues (24-25-5) will take on the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, for the final time this season on Thursday night.
The Blues are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the No. 1 team in the Pacific Division, the Edmonton Oilers, on Tuesday. The Blues have now earned three of a possible four points in their last two games.
Jordan Kyrou was the first Blue on the board, capitalizing on the power play for his sixth man-advantage tally of the season. Colton Parayko netted the team’s second and final goal of the evening, his career-high 12th of the season.
Tuesday’s game also saw defenseman Nick Leddy return to the lineup after he missed 49 games with an upper-body injury. In his first game back, he recorded 15:27 minutes of ice time and had an even plus/minus rating. In 1,016 career games, he has 411 points (73 goals, 338 assists).
After his first game back, he shared what it meant to him to return to the ice.
“[Being injured] was frustrating, but I’m definitely very thankful and grateful to be back playing,” Leddy said. “It was a long journey, a lot of lonely nights at times, but having these guys pick me up when I got to see them and just be around the guys again was great.”
As the team continues its push for the playoffs, captain Brayden Schenn emphasized the importance of securing points whenever possible.
“We’ll keep on taking little steps here and grabbing points,” Schenn said. “All points are valuable right now. Obviously we’d like to have two, but we have a chance to finish this homestand off with the Panthers coming in and then Chicago coming in, so we need points right now.”
The Blues will face Florida on Thursday and the Blackhawks on Saturday to wrap up their schedule ahead of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break.
PANTHERS The Florida Panthers (32-20-3) are ending their two-game road trip in St. Louis on Thursday after a 6-3 defeat to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Although the Panthers came up short on Tuesday, in their eight games prior they have posted a 6-2-0 record and have outscored their opponents 31-14. The Panthers are third in the league for goals scored this season with 180.
The two top point leaders for the Panthers, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk, are both on four-game point streaks with seven points each. Reinhart has two goals and five assists while Tkachuk has four goals and three assists.
The Blues and Panthers last met on Dec. 20 in Florida, with the home team earning the 2-1 victory in overtime. Since then, the Panthers have posted a 11-9-1 record and hold the top spot in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference with 67 points.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Defenseman Colton Parayko tallied his 12th goal of the season on Tuesday, which ranks fifth amongst NHL defensemen. Parayko has two goals in his last three games and six points in his last 10 games (five goals, one assist). The assistant captain ranks fifth in the NHL with 124 blocked shots.
PANTHERS Matthew Tkachuk leads his team in assists with 32 and is second on the team in points with 51. Tkachuk is on a four-game goal streak and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his last four games. The St. Louis native and son of Keith Tkachuk has 630 points (237 goals, 393 assists) in 640 career games.
BLUE NOTES
- In their last seven matchups, the Blues hold a 4-1-2 record against the Panthers.
- Jordan Kyrou scored his 23rd goal of the season on Tuesday and has a goal in back-to-back games. His 23 goals, 44 points, 153 shots on goal and +11 plus/minus rating all lead the Blues.
- Ryan Suter is expected to dress in his 1,499th career game, which will move him into a tie with Mike Modano for 22nd in NHL history.
