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If Wednesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Predators in Nashville seemed like a small victory of effort (it was actually there), then last night’s 6-2 shellacking of the same team was an exclamation point as to what this team can do. Even down Jaden Schwartz, Carl Gunnarsson, and Alexander Steen, the team lit five goals on Juuse Saros and one on Pekka Rinne. Would the win’ve been as lopsided had the Predators started Rinne to begin with? Probably not, but the Blues came out with Pat Maroon and Brayden Schenn’s fists flying and never let up for a second.
It was the type of game fans have been waiting for all season long. Now that we know it’s a possibility, I don’t think that it’s unfair to expect an improved effort tonight against the Jets. The Jets have lost three of their last four games, including a 4-2 loss to the Wild last night. After jumping to a 2-0 lead, the Jets did their best Blues impression by letting the Wild score four goals in the third. After starting the season on a tear, the Jets sit in fourth in the Central, seven points above the Blues.
The Jets started Connor Hellebuyck last night, so for the second night in a row the Blues may see a backup with good numbers. Laurent Brossoit is 3-1-1 so far this year with a 1.64 GAA and a .951 save percentage. Numbers didn’t mean much for Saros last night; perhaps they won’t mean much for Brossoit tonight.
The Blues are 0-1-1 against the Jets this year, with a season-starting loss to them on opening night and a 5-4 overtime loss to the Jets in Winnipeg on October 22nd.