ve set points in the 10th game of the opening set before they

(SportsNetwork.com) - Goals and wins have come pretty easily for the St. Louis Blues in recent weeks and the club hopes to continue its hot streak when it hosts the Detroit Red Wings in Thursdays battle at Scottrade Center. The Blues have won five straight and are outscoring the opposition by a 29-10 margin during the hot streak, which includes a 3-0 start to seven-game homestand. St. Louis two most recent wins were on the close side, however, as the Blues edged Carolina in a shootout on Saturday before taking a 4-2 decision in Tuesdays clash with Edmonton. David Backes and Vladimir Tarasenko each posted a goal and an assist to lead the way in the win over the Oilers. St. Louis led 3-0 before allowing Edmonton to make a game of it in the third period. Oilers forward Benoit Pouliot scored twice in the final 20 minutes, but the Blues were able to hold on for the victory. You dont want to give points away to teams that are behind you, especially when all the other teams keep winning, said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock. You just dont want to start falling behind teams at this point. Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Steen each scored a goal for the Blues, while Jake Allen allowed two goals on 15 shots. St. Louis, which is one point behind Chicago for second place in the Central Division, can post its second-longest winning streak of the season with another victory tonight. The Blues season-high streak came with seven consecutive wins from Oct. 25-Nov. 6. The Blues have won four straight on home ice and are 16-4-1 in the Gateway City this season. However, St. Louis has dropped two straight and three of its last four home games against tonights opponent. Detroit has claimed seven of 11 overall from the Blues and enters tonights encounter having won three of its last four games to post a 3-2-0 mark on a six-game road trip that ends in St. Louis. The Wings are 10-7-3 as the visiting team this season. The Red Wings fell 3-1 in Washington on Saturday, but rebounded Tuesday night in Buffalo with a 3-1 victory of their own. Petr Mrazek filled in nicely for the injured Jimmy Howard, stopping 25 shots to anchor the victory at first Niagara Center. Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Darren Helm all scored for the Red Wings, while Kyle Quincey posted two assists. I think we played a great game today, said Mrazek. Our penalty kill was really solid, and thats been getting a lot better lately. Howard, Detroits No. 1 goaltender, is week-to-week with a groin injury and Mrazek expects to start again tonight with Tom McCollum as his backup. Mrazek owns a 2-0 record and .80 goals against average in three lifetime appearances against the Blues. Brian Elliott is expected to start for St. Louis. He is 3-6-1 with a 2.49 GAA in his career versus Detroit. The Blues are still carrying three goalies on their NHL roster, but that number will shrink to two as Martin Brodeur was granted a week-long leave of absence from the club on Wednesday. A statement released by the Blues said Brodeur will rejoin the club in one week and his future will be addressed at that time. The future Hall of Fame netminder was signed to a one-year deal on Dec. 2 when Elliott was sidelined with an injury. Brodeur led the New Jersey Devils to three Stanley Cup titles during his legendary 21-season run with the club, a tenure that ended when the Devils opted not to sign him last offseason. He is 3-3-0 with a 2.87 GAA and .899 save percentage in seven games with the Blues. The Red Wings, who are third in the Atlantic Division, expect to be without forward Tomas Jurco for a fourth straight game. Jurco is dealing with a back injury and hasnt played since Jan. 6 in Edmonton. Next up for Detroit is a three-game homestand which begins Saturday against Nashville. Cheap College Jerseys 2020 . Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron scored in the first period after the Red Wings had miscues on the ice and Tuukka Rask finished with a 23-save shutout, giving Boston a 3-0 win over the Red Wings and a 2-1 series lead in their first-round series. College Jerseys Outlet . PAUL, Minn. https://www.ncaajerseys2020.com/ . His apology came before a pregame ceremony in which the team honoured its 2004 team that won Bostons first World Series championship since 1918. "I realize that I behaved bad in Boston," Ramirez said. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . -- What Anthony Jennings lacked in experience, LSU more than compensated for with a talented supporting cast in the Outback Bowl. NCAA Jerseys 2020 . Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became much clearer.OSTRAVA, Czech Republic -- Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek won the doubles for the defending champion Czech Republic to take a 2-1 lead over the Netherlands in the Davis Cup first round on Saturday. The Czechs defeated Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) in almost four hours on an indoor hard court at CEZ Arena to improve to a 15-1 record in the cup doubles. The Dutch were trailing 2-0 in the fourth set before coming back and saving three break points at 5-5 after Haase double-faulted twice but the home pair converted their second match point in the tiebreaker with Haase sending a volley too long. "It was the toughest game we have played," Berdych said. "It was extremely hard for us. They were excellent." It was the first defeat in the cup doubles for Haase and Rojer following four victories. "We had our chances but our opponents were unbelievable," Stepanek said "We had to fight till the end." The Czechs, seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, are one win away from the quarterfinals while the Dutch must win both reverse singles on Sunday to reach the quarters for the first time sincee 2005.dddddddddddd On Sunday, Berdych plays Haase then Stepanek faces Igor Sijsling. The winner of the best-of-five series will face either Canada or Japan in April. Berdych and Stepanek saved five set points in the 10th game of the opening set before they broke Haase, and Stepanek served the set out. The Dutch pair wasted 10 break opportunities in the set. In the second set, Stepanek failed to hold his serve in the fourth game and Berdych double-faulted to do likewise, allowing the Dutch to race to a commanding 5-1 lead. Haase hit an ace on the first set point. Berdych was broken again in the seventh game of the third set when his forehand volley hit the net but the Dutch let the Czechs come back after wasting three set points and Haase failed to serve the set out in the 10th game. The Dutch still forced a tiebreaker after saving three set points. Haase became furious when the Czechs jumped to 4-1 for no clear reason, hitting the net three times with his racket before the Czechs prevailed 7-2 with Berdychs backhand volley winner. Berdych had to be treated for a back problem when trailing 5-4 in the third set but said it was not serious. ' ' '