St. Louis Bluis coach Jim Montgomery came out of the four nations’ facial outages, arranged an intense minicamp to introduce a stronger work ethic and better attention to detail.
This work paid off over the weekend when Blues earned three out of four points in home games against two Western Conference powers, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche.
Blues will try to build it up when they meet Seattle Kraken Tuesday night to finish their home.
After losing to Jets 4-3 in a Shootout Saturday, Blues bounced back to defeat Avalanche 3-1 Sunday.
“Three big points on the weekend,” said Blues Goaltender Jordan Binnington. “Our team played phenomenally. It’s a good start for us who get out of the break.”
Blues were 2-5-1 in their last eight games before the break. Montgomery saw progress at both ends of the ice as they returned.
“We were relentless, I thought, when we checked,” Montgomery said. “I thought our sticks were really good defensively. I thought we were physical. We separated people from the puck, and I thought our other man beat his other man to the puck, which allowed us to promote lines and get zones . “
He liked the determination he saw at the other end of the ice as well.
“I thought we were really hard offensive,” Montgomery said. “Did not pass shots, having people on the net front, driving the net. We tried many low slot lines, East-West games, and I thought our D-men were really good.”
Blues defeated Kraken 3-2 in Seattle in his former meeting, in the season opener for both teams. Binnington got the victory with 30 rescues and Jordan Kyrou made twice for blues. The Kraken got goals from Eeli Tolvanen and former Blues defender Vince Dunn.
Seattle came out of the break with a three-game road trip. After winning 2-1 on Florida Saturday, the Kraken lost 4-1 at Tampa Bay the next day.
Kraken coach Dan Bylsma liked how his team continued to press Lightning while playing the other of Back-to-back games. But they were made through a division with the male advantage while the game was still speechless during the second period.
“Of course Power Play gets an opportunity and they make a short -handed goal, and that is a big turning point in the match,” Bylsma said. “It put us behind. I still thought we had enough to think we would come back and get a chance and get goals.
“But we think we have to be a little more decisive to get on the inside and get dirty.”
Shane Wright, who scored the only goal in Tampa Bay, has five goals and seven assists in their last ten games.
After giving Ales Stezka his NHL debut in goal Sunday, the Kraken is likely to come back with Joey Daccord against Blues. Daccord has won his last two starts while stopping 53 out of 56 shots.
-Field level media
