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Blues host the Jets in their last meeting of the season

February 23, 2018, 3:30 PM ET [7 Comments]
Jason Millen
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The Blues will host the Winnipeg Jets tonight at 7pm. The Jets sit in 2nd place in the Central Division and have the 5th highest points percentage in the NHL. Speaking of points percentage, the Central division has 5 of the top 13 in the league. Yes 5 of the best 13 teams in the NHL are in the Central.

The Jets will be trying to avenge their 5-2 loss to the Blues in Winnipeg just two weeks ago. The Jets are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and are 12-10-7 on the road this season. The Jets have been at home for 10 straight games before tonight, meaning their last road game was almost a month ago. Their last 3 road games have gone to extra time.

The Jets have the 3rd best power play in the NHL and the 14th best penalty kill. Their offense keys their record by scoring at the 3rd best rate in the league. Their defense has been stingy as well, allowing the 6th fewest goals per game.

Blake Wheeler leads the Jets with 69 points in 60 games while Patrik Laine has 28 goals in 60 games. Mark Scheifele has been strong this year with 46 points in 44 games. NikolaJ Ehlers leads the team in game winning goals with 6 of his 23 leading to the victory. Wheeler has been on fire with 10 points in his last 5 games and a 6 game point streak. He also has been strong against the Blues with 28 points in 26 games. Laine has also been very good with 6 goals and 7 points in 7 games versus the Blues.

Connor Hellebuyck has been strong in net with a 2.37 goals against average and a 92.2% save percentage. He has been better against the Blues with a 1.79 goals against average and 92.9% save percentage.

It sounds like Jake Allen will get the start in net. Allen has a 90% save percentage against the Jets and a 2.96 goals against average. He was in net for the 5-2 win a couple of weeks ago. Vladimir Tarasenko leads all Blues players against the Jets with 17 points in 20 games.

It sounds like recently recalled Samuel Blais is in concussion protocol and is out. Robert Bortuzzo is still out hurt. Vladimir Sobotka should be back in the lineup. The lines should start like this:

Forwards
Alexander Steen - Paul Stastny – Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn – Patrik Berglund
Ivan Barbashev – Vladimir Sobotka - Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall – Kyle Brodziak – Chris Thorburn

Defense
Carl Gunnarsson - Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko
Chris Butler -Vince Dunn

Goalie
Carter Hutton

The Blues missed out on what is likely two of their top choices in the trade market with Michael Grabner going to the Devils and Derick Brassard going to the Penguins.

It’s a great day for hockey.

Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers Nashville Predator's Paul McCann, Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others will donate in their name.
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