The St. Louis Blues continued their season last week with two home games and two road games. They got Jakub Vrana in their lineup after making the trade deadline day move with the Detroit Red Wings. The Blues are getting a clearer picture of what their forward group will look like next season.
They began last week with a 6-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. Coyotes forwards Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller continued their run of dominance against the Blues. Schmaltz had a goal and an assist in this game. St. Louis native Keller had a goal and two assists. Schmaltz has 29 points in 29 career games against the Blues, while Keller has 24 points in 24 games. The season series between the Blues and Coyotes finishes with the Coyotes winning two of three. The Blues surrendered 16 goals in three games, and their only win over the Coyotes was in overtime.
Related: St. Louis Blues Trade Deadline History
The Blues got their second win over the San Jose Sharks in two weeks. They won 4-2 with two big goals in the third period. Vrana scored his first goal as a Blue in this game. Jordan Binnington saved 32 of 34 shots in the victory. They split the remaining games of the week with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Vegas Golden Knights in a back-to-back. Sammy Blais had three points in the win over the Blue Jackets. Jordan Kyrou had a huge week with four goals and three assists in four games. It was an interesting week of games for the Blues, but none of the results were surprising. They’re now 29-32-5 for 63 points on the season.
New Blues Forwards Fitting in Well
The Blues added three forwards to their team before the trade deadline. They added Blais in the Vladimir Tarasenko trade. They claimed Kasperi Kapanen off of waivers and traded for Vrana from the Red Wings. After extending Blais with a one-year contract, all three of these forwards will be in the lineup next season. With the Blues being in the midst of a retool, adding forwards that need a change of scenery is smart. Versatility is a key attribute for all three of these players.
Blais can play on any of the bottom two lines. Vrana and Kapanen can both play on any of the top three lines. Those two bring an element of speed that the Blues haven’t had with anybody other than Kyrou over the past few seasons. The numbers speak for themselves as well. Beginning with Blais, he struggled mightily in…
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