The Blues have a lot to be happy about after drubbing the Sharks on Thursday night.
I was going to write a large portion of this post about how the Blues sprung back from adversity on Thursday night, about how getting their collective asses handed to them by the Arizona Coyotes was a wake-up call, how it was a big deal.
I am no longer going to do that because Jeremy Rutherford over at The Athletic (subscription required) did so and did it a thousand times better than I could. The loss to Arizona is why the Blues not only won their game Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks, in which they peppered James Reimer with 48 (!) shots on goal.
Brandon Saad, who scored two goals in the victory, seemed excited with what the team accomplished, while still basically recognizing that it was, after all, just one game:
“I think me and the team, I think we played a little bit simpler, played with more pace, getting pucks in deep better, making smart decisions,” Saad said. “Still had some turnovers we want to clean up, but I think it’s our main focus as a team. We were kind of shooting ourselves there with turnovers.”
“Making smart decisions” is a great contrast to Torey Krug’s comment after the loss to Arizona in which he said that the Blues “played stupid.” The Blues seem to be awake, and they woke up at a bad time for the Dallas Stars.
The Stars probably would just prefer it if the Blues were still asleep. They were soundly drubbed by the Minnesota Wild 7-2, unable to defend themselves against Kirill Kaprizov and his one goal, three assist onslaught. Anton Khudobin let in seven goals on just 26 shots before being yanked in favor of Jake Oettinger. It’s not 100% sure who the Blues are facing tonight, but if Khudobin doesn’t want in net for a chance to prove himself, I would be shocked. Back to back wins for the Stars followed by a clunky loss should lead to them being sharp out of the gate to get their homestand back on track.
Jordan Kyrou is on a six game point streak, and his goal on Thursday evening put him in the team lead for goals (8) and points (18). Scott Perunovich tallied his first NHL assist on Thursday while paired up with his temporary landlord, Justin Faulk. It would be a shock to see any changes in defensive pairings for tonight’s game.