A week ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets earned a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues to continue their high-scoring hot streak.
The Blues will try to slow their roll when the teams stage a rematch Saturday night in St. Louis.
The Blue Jackets have won six of their last eight games. They scored four or more goals in each victory, including their 6-2 rout of the Seattle Kraken at home Thursday night.
“The team, this group in particular, the most important thing to them is the two points,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “That’s what’s awesome about this group. Are we happy for people? One hundred percent. But the people that we’re happy for are happy to win — as opposed to just scoring a goal or making their debut or whatever — it’s that the Columbus Blue Jackets win.”
Columbus is getting a lift from prospects up from AHL affiliate Cleveland. Denton Mateychuk and Luca Del Bel Belluz each had a goal and an assist against the Kraken.
“They’ve got swagger,” Evason said. “They’ve got a confidence. Both guys that come up, they’ve got a ton of points down there, but they play the right way. It just sets them up to have success.”
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski had a goal and assist against Seattle, giving him two goals and seven assists during his five-game point streak. Center Adam Fantilli has two goals and three assists during his four-game point streak.
The Blues opened a four-game homestand by rolling past the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 Thursday. St. Louis has scored 37 goals in its last eight games while going 5-3-0 during that span.
“Defending better, playing the right way, working hard, coming up with puck battles,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “The little details that score you goals in this league. It’s always easy to say we’ve got to score more, but often you have to change something to score more.
“I feel like we’re doing a lot of good things away from the puck that’s resulting in us scoring goals. Guys are more confident. Confidence is obviously huge. When guys get rewarded, you’re able to see the next play a little bit better. That’s happening right now.”
A consistent theme for the Blues all season was to play more of a north-south game.
“I feel like any time you try to make too many east-west passes in the neutral zone or going over the blue line, sometimes it works, but consistently it doesn’t,” said St. Louis forward Dylan Holloway, who has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past eight games. “So the biggest thing for us is to keep grinding teams down low, getting pucks to the net and then winning our battles.”
Blues winger Jordan Kyrou has three goals and three assists in his last three games. Winger Pavel Buchnevich has two goals and four assists during a five-game point streak, and Robert Thomas has three goals in his last two games.
Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger missed Thursday’s game with illness, which gave his older brother Owen the opportunity to make his NHL debut filling in for him. Owen, 27, was recalled from the AHL when center Sean Monahan landed on injured reserve with a wrist injury.
–Field Level Media
