Heatley’s OT Breakaway Ends Close Game – SJS 2, STL 1

Knock knock. Who’s there? The St. Louis Blues, that’s who.

Despite losing the first of their 3-game California road trip, the Blues bounced back from their home loss to Chicago by putting the San Jose Sharks to the test.

Offensive leaders Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk were scratched for the matchup, causing several young Blues to step up the determination to play better.

For once, there were more impressive defensive plays than embarrassing lapses. Sliding players sacrificed bodies, big hits were dished out, the forecheck was relentless. Almost every single one of the Blues’ skaters looked about 4 times better than they have in weeks.

And defense wasn’t the only strong suit for the Notes this Wednesday. Although the scoreboard doesn’t show it, the Blues had a multitude of great scoring chances, created by hard work on the boards and (hallelujah) pure drive. Casual players like Berglund and Boyes looked to be giving every ounce of effort they had.

Regardless of all these opportunities, the Blues ran into an elite goaltender in Evgeni Nabokov, who stopped 28 of the Blues’ 29 shots. Nabokov made some spectacular old school stops that prove why he deserves to play for the Russian Olympic team.

Even though Nabokov’s performance Wednesday was superb, Chris Mason stole the show, stopping 42 of 44 shots and reminding everyone how he earned the starting job in St. Louis. He gave up goals to Marleau, a PPG at 12:51 in the 3^rd and an OT breakaway to Heatley.

I have to admit I was a little nervous going into this game. Going into Wednesday’s game, the Blues were at their most vulnerable: we’ve got a new head coach (the youngest in the NHL, by the way), we’ve got some key injuries (Walt, Kariya), and the team’s been in a home funk and offensive drought.

Take a team dealing with all that and pit them against a team who has 8 Olympians and is coming off an 8-game winning streak and you’ve got what appears to be a slaughter. But no, the Blues have decided that, yes, we have an embarrassing, god-awful home record, but damnit, we’re good on the road. And just because were having some “technical difficulties,” we’re not gonna lie down for any team.