It’s almost Christmas Eve when families and friends continue their traditions, whether it’s watching It’s A Wonderful Life, heading to a church service, or dining at a special restaurant. But before that, we have a special Central Division matchup and a rematch from last year’s playoffs on Wednesday night, when the St. Louis Blues host the Winnipeg Jets in downtown St. Louis.
Blues’ Gameday Preview: Blues vs. Jets
Wednesday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams. In 2024-25, the Jets won three of four contests, including an April win that ended the Blues’ 12-game winning streak. The teams then met again in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Jets won in seven games. The Jets tied the game with 1.6 seconds left before winning the series in double overtime.
The Jets have a slight edge in the all-time series, with a 35-34-0-5 record, dating back to their time as the Atlanta Thrashers.
Time: 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time
TV: FanDuel Sports Midwest (St. Louis), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
The Blues’ Story
The Blues are 12-15-7 on the season with 31 points. They are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.
Recent Game
The Blues fell 5-2 to the Nashville Predators on Monday. Filip Forsberg recorded a hat trick for the Preds, who beat the Blues for the second time in five days. The Blues gave up three goals in the second period to fall behind 4-1. The lone bright spot was Dalibor Dvorsky, who had his first-career multi-goal game.
Projected Lineup (Subject to Change)
- Mathieu Joseph – Robert Thomas – Pavel Buchnevich
- Jake Neighbours – Brayden Schenn – Robby Fabbri
- Pius Suter – Dalibor Dvorsky – Hugh McGing
- Alexy Toropchenko – Oskar Sundqvist – Matt Luff
- Philip Broberg – Colton Parayko
- Tyler Tucker – Justin Faulk
- Cam Fowler – Logan Mailloux
- Jordan Binnington/Joel Hofer
Team Leaders
Thomas leads the team in points with 23, while Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, and Jordan Kyrou are tied for the team lead with eight goals each. Thomas continues to lead in assists with 16, while Tucker continues to lead in penalty minutes with 39. Joseph leads the Blues in plus/minus with a plus-1 rating.
Related: Blues Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Injuries, Goaltending, Wild Card and More
Between the pipes, Binnington has seven wins. However, Hofer leads the team with a 3.16 goals-against average (GAA) and a .980 save percentage (SV%).
The Jets’ Story
The Jets are 15-15-2 with 32 points on the season. They are 3-5-2 in their last ten games.
Recent Game
The Jets lost 3-2 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. The Jets led in the final minutes of the game, but the Sens tied it at 18:06 on a goal by Jake Sanderson. Brady Tkachuk scored the overtime winner.
Projected Lineup (Subject to Change)
- Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Gabriel Vilardi
- Nino Niederreiter – Vladislav Namestikov – Cole Perfetti
- Morgan Barron – Adam Lowry – Alex Iafallo
- Cole Koepke – Jonathan Towes – Gustav Nyquist
- Josh Morrissey – Dylan DeMelo
- Dylan Samberg – Neal Pionk
- Logan Stanley – Luke Schenn
- Connor Hellebuyck/Eric Comrie
Related: Jonathan Toews’ Return Has Become a Costly Miscalculation for the Winnipeg Jets
Team Leaders
Connor leads the team in points with 41 and assists with 26. Scheifele and Vilardi are tied for the lead in goals with 16. Stanley has the most penalty minutes with 55. Lastly, there is a three-way tie for the plus/minus leader, as Scheifele, Morrissey, and DeMelo are each a plus-11.
In goal, Hellebuyck leads the Jets in all major categories. He has nine wins, a 2.44 GAA, and a .915 SV%.
Blues’ Storyline to Watch
The Blues have been awful in the second period this season. The team starts strong, scores a goal or two in the first, only to fall apart in the second frame. Monday was the latest example of that. St. Louis entered the period tied and then gave up three goals on eight shots. Ill-timed penalties, an inability to clear the puck, and a lack of offensive pressure continue to haunt them in the middle period.
Opponents entering the second period only need one game plan: play defence. Get the puck in the offensive zone. Put pressure on the Blues to force penalties and/or mistakes. The Blues need to start entering the period with a set play off the faceoff to gain some momentum. If St. Louis wants to contend or at least be a more competitive team, the second period needs to be better.
Jets’ Storyline to Watch
This storyline assumes Hellebuyck gets the nod between the pipes tomorrow. He has done well against the Blues, with a 17-6-2 regular-season record, a 2.03 GAA, and a .928 SV%. It’s what we can expect from a three-time Vezina and a Hart Trophy winner.
However, it was a different story in last year’s playoffs. Hellebuyck was pulled in all three games in St. Louis. He gave up six goals in Game 3, five goals in Game 4, and five goals in Game 5. The Blues cruised to victory in each game. Even the games at home could have gone better. Hellebuyck gave up three goals in all but one of his team’s home games.
This storyline is straightforward. Can Hellebuyck put last postseason’s struggles aside? The Blues will be without Kyrou, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Holloway, so there is no excuse for him to have another poor performance at the Enterprise Center. Of course, if Hellebuyck does not get the start, we will have to save this storyline for a future game.
