Blues at Oilers preview: Play the April Fool

The Blues have been rolling, winning their last two games against the Vancouver Canucks, doubling them up in goals. Ville Husso has been outstanding, and him getting the start tonight against the Edmonton Oilers shouldn’t surprise anyone. With a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames, both difficult opponents, it’s tough to be able to tell who’s getting the call in what game. The Blues are aware that every point is needed - they’re four points behind the Minnesota Wild for second in the Central - and they’re going to need to keep that awareness through the rest of the road trip.

The Edmonton Oilers have clawed their way back up into playoff contention, sitting in third in the Pacific. With a record of 7-2-1 in their last ten games, they’re on a two game winning streak. They’re one of the strongest road teams in the game, with just 12 losses to 22 wins. Of course, the current streak of hot play boils down to Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. McDavid’s rolling with seven assists in his last ten, while Draisaitl has eight goals.

The troubles that the Oilers went through at the season’s midpoint - when the Blues handily dispatched them 4-2 - are over. They’re back to being one of the most dangerous teams in the Western Conference despite their position in the standings. They’re just a point behind the resurgent Los Angeles Kings, and eight points behind the Flames.

The Blues feel like they’ve turned a corner - here’s hoping that this is the return of the healthy confidence that fans have been treated to most of this season, March notwithstanding:

“We’ve got to put like four, five (wins) in a row before we start thinking that we got something going here,” he said.

Even so, Robert Thomas sees some signs of progress.

“We’re playing smarter, we’re playing harder,” Thomas said. “And we’re closing out games. So I think those two things are the biggest thing and just building momentum.

“You can feel the team chemistry coming along. We’re playing for each other. We’re playing for the guy next to each other. Those things are really important this time of year.”

With just 16 games left, everything’s important this time of year.