The St. Louis Blues entered the holiday break on a two-game winning streak with wins over the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks.
In this edition of Blues’ 3 Up, 3 Down, I will discuss the comeback win over the Blackhawks, Blues prospects at the 2024 World Juniors, and much more.
Plus One: Major Comeback Win Over Blackhawks
The Saturday night win at the Enterprise Center over the Blackhawks was a wild one. The Blues seemed to have lacked effort in the first two periods and the beginning of the third period, but turned it up after Nick Foligno scored a shorthanded goal to give the Blackhawks a 5-2 lead.
Related: Blues’ Top Line Resurgence Under New Coach Bannister
Latest News & Highlights
They got back-to-back power play markers from Brandon Saad and Jake Neighbours to make it 5-4. Fewer than 30 seconds later, Robert Thomas drove the net and passed it into the slot where Jordan Kyrou buried it to tie the game. With less than three minutes to go, Blues defenseman Justin Faulk flipped an innocent puck from in front of the circle and got it past Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom to give them a 6-5 lead. The deal was sealed when Kyrou picked a pass off and scored an empty netter to give the Blues a crazy 7-5 win. The Blues are now 2-1-0 against the Blackhawks this season and 8-2-1 against them since the start of the 2021-22 season.
Minus One: Brayden Schenn
In his first season as captain, Brayden Schenn has struggled on the ice. From everything seen publicly, he’s been a phenomenal leader overall. His goal-scoring pace is similar to last season, where he scored 21, but it’s down from where it was early in two of his first four seasons with the Blues. His faceoff percentage is under 50 percent, but that’s been the norm for his entire career. In the last two seasons across 115 games, Schenn has a plus/minus of minus-40. That stat isn’t the most important, but it shows the struggles he’s had overall.
Plus Two: Blues Prospects at World Juniors
The 2024 World Juniors are underway and the Blues have seven prospects participating. Four of the prospects are first-round picks.
- Jimmy Snuggerud (United States) (2022 first-round pick)
- Dalibor Dvorsky (Slovakia) (2023 first-round pick)
- Otto Stenberg (Sweden) (2023 first-round pick)
- Theo Lindstein (Sweden) (2023 first-round pick)
- Jakub Stancl (Czechia) (2023 fourth-round pick)
- Juraj Pekarcik (Slovakia) (2023 third-round pick)
- Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (Finland) (2022…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…