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St. Louis Blues vs. Dallas Stars Preview and Predictions 2019-02-21
NHL Predictions 20th February 2019 by Gracenote
by Gracenote on 02/20/2019
Records continue to tumble for the rampaging St. Louis Blues, who are in the midst of a franchise-record winning streak entering Thursday night's matchup at the Dallas Stars. St. Louis has ripped off 11 consecutive victories and has not trailed in its past eight contests to zip past the Stars and surge into third place in the Central Division.
The Blues coughed up a two-goal lead Tuesday before Ryan O'Reilly came to the rescue with the game-winner in overtime to establish the franchise mark for wins in a row. "We're really enjoying it," O'Reilly said. "You see from the start of the year how frustrating it was and how we kept working and working and not getting the result. Now, you see the way we've come together and everybody's invested in each other." While St. Louis has allowed two goals or fewer in nine of the last 11 games, Dallas has struggled at both ends of the ice in getting outscored 14-3 during its three-game losing streak. "Obviously there is something we need to tighten up," defenseman Esa Lindell said. "We're giving up too many goals in front of the net. That's something we can easily clean up.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE BLUES (32-22-5): Rookie netminder Jordan Binnington has won nine in a row to fuel the surge and became the sixth goaltender in league history to win at least 13 of his first 15 starts. While Vladimir Tarasenko finally had his career-best 12-game point streak halted, linemate O'Reilly has 12 points in his last 11 games to match last season's career high of 61. "It's impressive watching this guy. He works hard, he's always first guy on, last guy off the ice in practice," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "He's a special teammate to have. It's fun to work along his side and just learn from him."
ABOUT THE STARS (29-25-5): Forward Jason Spezza, a five-time 30-goal scorer in his career, ended a long dry spell with a goal and an assist against Nashville to double his point total from his previous 19 games combined. "I've scored lots of goals before," said Spezza, who notched his 331st career tally. "You want to make a habit of it and not worry too much about it. But obviously I've been in a drought, so it felt good." No. 1 netminder Ben Bishop sat out his sixth straight game due to an upper-body injury but was listed as probable and is expected to serve as the backup to Anton Khudobin on Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Blues F Brayden Schenn has two goals and 13 points over the past 11 games.
2. Khudobin is 1-0-1 with five goals allowed in three appearances versus St. Louis.
3. Blues F David Perron and D Carl Gunnarsson did not accompany the team to Dallas.
PREDICTION: Blues 3, Stars 2
NHL Predictions 20th February 2019 by Gracenote
by Gracenote on 02/20/2019
Records continue to tumble for the rampaging St. Louis Blues, who are in the midst of a franchise-record winning streak entering Thursday night's matchup at the Dallas Stars. St. Louis has ripped off 11 consecutive victories and has not trailed in its past eight contests to zip past the Stars and surge into third place in the Central Division.
The Blues coughed up a two-goal lead Tuesday before Ryan O'Reilly came to the rescue with the game-winner in overtime to establish the franchise mark for wins in a row. "We're really enjoying it," O'Reilly said. "You see from the start of the year how frustrating it was and how we kept working and working and not getting the result. Now, you see the way we've come together and everybody's invested in each other." While St. Louis has allowed two goals or fewer in nine of the last 11 games, Dallas has struggled at both ends of the ice in getting outscored 14-3 during its three-game losing streak. "Obviously there is something we need to tighten up," defenseman Esa Lindell said. "We're giving up too many goals in front of the net. That's something we can easily clean up.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE BLUES (32-22-5): Rookie netminder Jordan Binnington has won nine in a row to fuel the surge and became the sixth goaltender in league history to win at least 13 of his first 15 starts. While Vladimir Tarasenko finally had his career-best 12-game point streak halted, linemate O'Reilly has 12 points in his last 11 games to match last season's career high of 61. "It's impressive watching this guy. He works hard, he's always first guy on, last guy off the ice in practice," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "He's a special teammate to have. It's fun to work along his side and just learn from him."
ABOUT THE STARS (29-25-5): Forward Jason Spezza, a five-time 30-goal scorer in his career, ended a long dry spell with a goal and an assist against Nashville to double his point total from his previous 19 games combined. "I've scored lots of goals before," said Spezza, who notched his 331st career tally. "You want to make a habit of it and not worry too much about it. But obviously I've been in a drought, so it felt good." No. 1 netminder Ben Bishop sat out his sixth straight game due to an upper-body injury but was listed as probable and is expected to serve as the backup to Anton Khudobin on Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Blues F Brayden Schenn has two goals and 13 points over the past 11 games.
2. Khudobin is 1-0-1 with five goals allowed in three appearances versus St. Louis.
3. Blues F David Perron and D Carl Gunnarsson did not accompany the team to Dallas.
PREDICTION: Blues 3, Stars 2
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