Game 78: Winnipeg Jets vs St Louis Blues pre-game report

The last time these two teams met back on February 22nd the Blues were sitting well out of a playoff spot (8 back of the second wild card spot) and the Jets were pretty much where they remain now which is atop the Central standings. These two teams met in the first game after the 4 Nations break in St. Louis which saw Winnipeg take it 4-3 in a shootout. At the time the Blues were limping along having gone 3-6-1 in the 10 games prior to the contest with the Jets. When we had Jeremey Rutherford of The Athletic St. Louis on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show 10 days ago he told us the St. Louis coaching staff spent the time during the break reconstructing the way this team played. Since 4 Nations they have gone an incredible 18-2-2 (including currently riding a 12-game win streak) and now sit in the first wild card spot, eight points up on the ninth place Flames.

On the other hand Winnipeg is focused on trying to keep Dallas in the rearview mirror by adding points to their standings bank. They got lucky after a tough loss in Utah on Saturday night in that the Stars lost in regulation to the Penguins earlier that day and then in extra time on Sunday afternoon in St. Paul. Both teams have five games remaining with each one playing a game today (Jets vs Blues) or tomorrow (Stars vs Canucks) before they meet on Thursday night in Dallas.

Of course the focus today is on Jets and Blues. The big question mark for Winnipeg will be whether or not Nikolaj Ehlers is ready to return after not playing in the last game. He had taken some friendly fire in the game in Vegas so the team held him out. The other question marks are Neal Pionk (lower-body injury) and Rasmus Kupari (concussion) while there isn’t expected to be anything new with Gabriel Vilardi (week-to-week).

Skate news:

Nikolaj Ehlers on the ice for morning skate and taking part in line rushes. Neal Pionk is skating but not taking part. No Colin Miller this morning.

Warm-up news:

No Nikolaj Ehlers as warm-up starts for the Jets. Also missing is Colin Miller (illness).

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Tanev-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Barron-JAD

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Schenn
Stanley-Fleury

Hellebuyck

Blues projected lines & D pairs:

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Neighbours-Schenn-Kyrou
Joseph-Sundqvist-Bolduc
Toropchenko-Faksa-Walker

Fowler-Leddy
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Tucker

Hofer

NHL.com/The Hockey News Blues writer Lou Korac has them projected as above.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:
1) Health update on Ehlers & Pionk
2) Scoreboard watching (:22)
3) The Blues current streak (1:01)
4) Changes St. Louis has made during this run (1:43)
5) Updates on Miller, Kupari & Vilardi (2:38)
6) Does this seem like deja-vu for the Blues? (3:19)
7) Schenn brothers (4:11)

Health updates:

The updates via Connor Hrabchak are Nikolaj Ehlers is a game-time decision tonight against the Blues. Colin Miller (illness) is also a game-time decision. Neal Pionk is “getting real close” to a return to the lineup. Gabriel Vilardi is around the rink and the Jets will look to get him on the ice soon. Rasmus Kupari skated today on his own before the morning skate. Full report here.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6:30 PM CDT. Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action. You can join us on our YouTube channel for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show around 9:10 PM CDT as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.