Preview: Blues at Oilers

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES While the month of March carried some difficult stretches, the St. Louis Blues hope to have weathered the storm and are entering the final month of the season on a high note.

Winning their second in a row against a Vancouver squad desperate to stay in the Playoff hunt, the Blues were scoring goals in a wide variety of ways to complete the season sweep.

Nick Leddy fired in his first goal as a Blue with a laser from the point in 5-on-5 play, Robert Thomas beat goaltender Thatcher Demko on a stellar shorthanded breakaway, and Ryan O’Reilly finished a crucial power play with precision and force.

This balance of scoring is vital as the Blues gear up for the stretch run. In most years, the regular season would be wrapping up in about 10 days, but with the altered schedule this season, 16 games still remain in the 2021-22 campaign.

The Blues will open April with a road battle against another team in the Western Conference Playoff race, the Edmonton Oilers. Friday’s bout opens a back-to-back set that concludes with another strong conference opponent in Calgary.

The Blues took back third place in the Central Division standings on Wednesday night, moving to 83 points on the season and a record of 37-20-9.

OILERS The last time the Edmonton Oilers met with the Blues, their 4-2 loss on Dec. 29 was the first of a seven-game losing streak that culminated in a 6-0 home loss to the Florida Panthers.

After that low point, the Oilers were able to get back on track, immediately entering a six-game point streak as well as winning five in a row just after the All-Star break.

The Oilers will also be playing with confidence after winning two in a row against the Coyotes and Kings this week.

Their win against the Kings – now leading the Oilers by just a single point in the Pacific Division standings – saw goals from the Oilers’ world-class duo in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, currently first and second in the NHL in points this season.

A 3-3 tie exiting the second period held through the third and overtime, with Draisaitl and McDavid both converting their shootout attempts to seal the win.

“Both teams knew what was at stake,” Draisaitl said of the Playoff-like atmosphere in Edmonton on Wednesday. “We want to make this building a tough one for other teams to come and play in, and I think we’ve done a good job of that lately.”

The Oilers have now won eight consecutive games on home ice at Rogers Place and are ready to give the Blues a true test in their focus and determination.

Edmonton looks to build their lead on Vegas for third place in the Pacific while also chasing down Los Angeles for second, with a record of 38-25-5 and 81 points as the seventh overall seed in the Western Conference.

HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues have split the season series with Edmonton thus far, going 1-1-0 in two matchups at Enterprise Center. The Oilers scored with less than 30 seconds left in regulation to win 5-4 on Nov. 14, but the Blues controlled most of the game on Dec. 29 to win 4-2.

The Blues are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games against the Oilers, and 3-2-0 in their last five trips to Edmonton.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Pavel Buchnevich, who eclipsed his career-best mark for points in a season in the March 26 loss to Carolina. In his first season as a Blue, Buchnevich has 21 goals and 30 assists (51 points).

OILERS Connor McDavid, who enters Friday’s matchup with exactly 100 points on the season to lead the NHL. No. 97 continues to set the League on fire, reaching 100 points for the fifth time in his career and recording multi-point games in nine of his last 11.

BLUE NOTES

O’Reilly’s goal against the Canucks was his first in 41 career games vs. Vancouver… O’Reilly’s seven power-play goals this year are his most in a season as a Blue… Nathan Walker scored his sixth NHL goal of the season for his second game-winning goal since being recalled from Springfield on March 22… The Blues feature eight different players with at least four power-play goals this season – Brandon Saad, Buchnevich, Ivan Barbashev, David Perron, O’Reilly, Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou, Vladimir Tarasenko). By comparison, the team only had four such scorers last season.