Left wing Pavel Buchvenich, center Robert Thomas and right wing Vladimir Tarasenko have combined for 79 (yes you read that right) points over those 16 games with 30 goals and 49 assists. Thomas extended his point streak to 17 games, tying Connor McDavid for the longest in the league this season, with an assist Sunday. Only Brett Hull (25) and Blake Dunlop (19) have longer streaks in team history.
Tarasenko, Thomas and Buchvenich have all scored 24 points this month giving the Blues three players with 20-plus points in a month for the second time in franchise history. The other time was January 1993 when Hull (23), Brendan Shanahan (23) and Craig Janney (22) accomplished the feat.
Tarasenko is the sniper leading the team in goals with 34. Thomas is a high-end playmaker and puck distributor with 56 assists. His previous career-high in points was 42. Buchvenich does a little bit of everything and has fit in seamlessly in his first season with the Blues. He was traded from the Rangers for Sammy Blais and a second round pick.
St. Louis also has Jordan Kyrou who reached 70 points against the Ducks, giving them four 70-point scorers for the second time in team history (1993). They will face the Wild in the postseason. Minnesota boasts three 75-plus point scorers in Kirill Kaprizov (103), Kevin Fiala (84) and Mats Zuccarello (79). Fiala is red-hot as well with 23 points over a 10-game point streak.
The Blues won all three meetings during the regular season. However, two of the games were played this month and went to overtime. The two teams combined for 28 goals over the three games so expect the offenses to thrive which is good news for St. Louis and bad news for the rest of the West.
POLL | ||
Who do you like in the Blues-Wild series? | ||
Blues | 25 | 25.8 % |
Wild | 49 | 50.5 % |
Neither (too painful as a Hawks fan) | 23 | 23.7 % |
List of polls |