St Louis Blues (0-1-0) at Winnipeg Jets (1-0-0)
Venue: Canada Life Centre
Date: Tonight – Monday, April 21st
Time: 6:30 pm CST
TV: CBC, TVAS 2, ESPN 2
Radio: 680 CJOB (Winnipeg) & 101 ESPN (St. Louis)
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
St. Louis Blues +1.5 ML -170
Winnipeg Jets -1.5 ML +142
O/U 5.5
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
St. Louis Blues News & Notes:
St. Louis head coach Jim Montgomery wasn’t happy with his team’s performance and their collapse in the third period.
St. Louis will be looking to bounce back after recording just one shot on goal in 25:30. St. Louis isn’t expected to make any drastic changes to their lineup as they await the return of Dylan Holloway.
Related: Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues Series Preview
Winnipeg Jets News & Notes:
Early on Sunday, it came out that Gabriel Vilardi has started skating with a non-contact jersey with his Jets teammates. Rasmus Kupari joined in a regular jersey for the team’s optional skate alongside Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley, Morgan Barron, David Gustafsson, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan. This list grew to include the healthy scratches, Colin Miller, Haydn Fleury, Dominic Toninato and Chris Driedger. The only player not to take part in the optional skate out of the healthy scratch group was Ville Heinola.
After the skate, Scott Arniel was asked for a status update of Vilardi and said it’s great to have him skating with a group, but didn’t put a timeline on the potential return of the Jets’ first-line star.
When asked about Ehlers, Arniel said that the Danish forward is still week-to-week and a ways away from a return.
St. Louis Blues Projected Lines
Jake Neighbours – Robert Thomas – Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Snuggerud – Brayden Schenn – Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph – Oskar Sundqvist – Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faska – Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler – Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter – Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter – Vladislav Namestnikov – Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev – Adam Lowry – Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson – Morgan Barron – Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey – Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg – Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley – Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Players To Watch:
St. Louis Blues
Jordan Binnington gets a back-to-back player to watch nomination for me, as he didn’t have the greatest game against Winnipeg in game one. Binnington will be looking to get his big moment early in the series, and stealing a game in Winnipeg would do just that.
Pavel Buchnevich, like Binnington, gets a back-to-back player to watch nomination as he was a force in game one, but will likely elevate his level in game two. It goes without saying that St. Louis will be relying on their guys like Buchnevich and Buchnevich himself to hit as hard as they did in game one and continue that in game two.
Oskar Sundqvist was a force in game one, but like Buchnevich, will likely elevate his game in game two. Sundqvist scored a big goal against Winnipeg in game one and will be looking to add to that in game two.
Winnipeg Jets
Logan Stanley, okay, here me out. This series is only getting more physical, and Stanley’s 6-foot-7 frame will be a massive benefit to the Jets, who will want to out-compete the Blues on the scoreboard and in the hits category. Stanley is coming off a career season in points (14), assists (13), and PIMS (78). He’s in the lineup because he adds a level of physicality to the Jets that they need. Game one ended with a lot of scrums, and Stanley could be a huge contributor to keeping the Blues in check.
Brandon Tanev has been a wrecking ball since he was acquired at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline. His intensity and speed are something the Jets will utilize heading into game two, especially with the anticipated rough stuff. If Tanev can get going and contribute as a secondary scorer, Winnipeg has a strong chance at securing a 2-0 series lead.
Kyle Connor scored a big go-ahead goal that put the dagger in the St. Louis Blues in the dying minutes of the third period on Saturday night. Connor will be looking to add to his big game with another big goal and by showcasing his value on the Jets’ top line.
Injury Report:
St. Louis Blues
C Dylan Holloway, Out – LBI, Week-to-Week
D Torey Krug – LTIR – Ankle
Winnipeg Jets
RW Gabriel Vilardi – IR – UBI, Day-to-Day
C Rasmus Kupari – Out, Concussion, Day-to-Day
RW Nikolaj Ehlers – Out, Foot, Week-to-Week
Next game
Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis Blues, April 24th, 8:30 pm CST, at Enterprise Center
ITR 37: Round Two – Inside The Rink
Discover more from Inside The Rink
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
