St. Louis @ Winnipeg preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 7, 2018 ) St. Louis 1, Winnipeg 0

The St. Louis Blues are one of the hottest teams in hockey entering the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and head to Winnipeg for Game 1 on Wednesday against a Jets squad that stumbled through the past three months. The Jets, who led the Western Conference in early January, went 16-16-3 since Jan. 19 and lost the Central Division title to Nashville in the final two weeks while the Blues went 30-10-5 since Jan. 1 to tie Winnipeg in the standings with 99 points.

St. Louis’ fortunes turned around with the emergence of goaltender Jordan Binnington, who did not make his first NHL start until Jan. 7 and posted a .927 save percentage. Forward Vladimir Tarasenko scored 17 of his 33 goals in the final 29 games for the Blues, who went 38-19-6 after interim coach Craig Berube took over for Mike Yeo following 19 games. The Jets were a popular Stanley Cup favorite in preseason after reaching the conference finals last spring, but enter the postseason with losses in five of their final seven contests. Injuries in the second half added to Winnipeg’s struggles, but Dustin Byfuglien returned before the regular season concluded and fellow defenseman Josh Morrissey is expected to be back for Game 1.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA3, FS Midwest (St. Louis), Sporstnet (Winnipeg)

ABOUT THE BLUES (45-28-9): Binnington, who played one game for the Blues in 2015-16, set a franchise record for wins by a rookie while finishing 24-5-1 with a league-leading 1.89 save percentage. Center Ryan O’Reilly led St. Louis in assists (49) and points (77) in his first season with the Blues, recording five points (two goals) in four games against Winnipeg. St. Louis’ top line of Tarasenko, O’Reilly and forward Brayden Schenn combined for 199 points this season as the Blues are producing offensively entering the postseason, averaging almost four goals per game in their final 12 contests.

ABOUT THE JETS (47-30-5): Forward Blake Wheeler set a franchise record with 71 assists, finishing third in the NHL, while center Mark Scheifele fronts a trio of 30-goal scorers with 38. The Jets are one of the deeper teams in the league scoring wise, including forwards Kyle Connor (34 goals) and Patrick Laine (30 goals), but inconsistency has been an issue in the second half. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck won 34 games - 10 fewer than a season ago - and went 2-3-1 in his final six games with 19 goals allowed.

OVERTIME

1. Laine scored six goals in four games against the Blues this season, including a five-goal performance Nov. 24 at St. Louis.

2. St. Louis finished tied for fifth in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.68) and ninth on the penalty kill (81.5 percent).

3. Byfuglien played just 42 games, returning from an ankle injury March 30, while Morrissey has been sidelined since Feb. 24 with an upper-body injury.

PREDICTION: Blues 3, Jets 2