Senators Veto Blues – OTT 3, STL 2

One night after a close call OT win, the Blues finished up their road trip in Ottawa. After rallying with two unanswered goals, the Blues failed to get the job done and lost 3-2 last night.

The hero for the Sens was 23 year-old rookie Peter Regin, who continued a recent hot streak with 3 points (1G, 2A) on the night. The young center’s 2^nd goal in as many games was the first of the game, a late PPG. Alexei Kovalev dished a hard pass which banked off Regin’s skate and past Mason. It was a bad break for Mason, who stopped 11 of 12 shots in the 1^st.

The Blues’ PK continued to be a problem as Ottawa scored another PPG halfway through the 2^nd period. This time, the goal was no fluke. Milan Michalek netted his 17^th of the year on a bang-bang passing play from Regin and Kovalev.

The Blues looked to be in trouble late in the 2^nd, but their fortunes changed when Eric Brewer (yup, I said Eric Brewer) scored his 4^th of the year, a tip-in from Andy McDonald. I actually have to hand it to Brewer on this one for going to the net and making a nice play, something I’m just not used to.

This goal was huge for the Blues. Their last minute 2^nd period marker gave the Blues all the momentum heading into the 3^rd. Brad Boyes came out of the locker room firing and finally snapped a 15-game scoring drought 30 seconds in. it was a glimpse of the good ‘ol Brad Boyes that Blues fans remember.  The shift winger who shakes defenders, moves from outside to inside, and sharpshoots, on the backhand, no less. The guy who scored 76 goals over the past 2 seasons.

Now if that first goal was huge, this one was pretty colossal. The Blues now had all period to score the go ahead goal. They’d just silenced the home crowd, and one of their leaders just scored a pretty sick goal. All the pieces were set for another Canadian victory.

Except the Blues were dealt a crappy hand. TJ Oshie took a 2-minute minor for tripping, on a blown call. Oshie was tripped on the play, and his sprawling body tripped an Ottawa player. St. Louis was determined to kill off that bad call and keep plugging, but couldn’t get it done on the PK.

Chris Phillips netted the Sens’ 3^rd goal at 10:29 after another nice passing play. Defensive retard Eric Brewer double teamed Peter Regin and left a huge void at the Blues’ left circle, where Daniel Alfredsson was wide open. He centered to Phillips, who wasted no time and wristed the puck past Mason.

Despite outshooting the Sens 15-3 in the period, the Blues just couldn’t solve Elliot.

It’s a good thing the Blues’ PK isn’t characteristically this bad. ALL 3 goals against the Blues were scored with the man advantage. The Blues’ PK is still in the top ten (#6 currently) so this appears to be nothing more than a bad game for special teams. The powerplay was 0/3, the PK was 1/4, it was just a disaster in that department.

But I’m not worried. You have to remember that the Blues were also missing a huge piece, big David Backes. Backes told Panger and John Kelly that he twisted his ankle in the Montreal game and was playing it safe. That’s good because we need all the defense we can get, with geniuses like Brewer on our team.

(Sidebar: Eric Brewer is a -13 through 27 games. That puts him at 787 out of 810 players. That’s only 23 players away from the worst +/-  in the ENTIRE LEAGUE! Any time you think he’s going to have a good game, he blows it with some monumental collapse. God will anyone take him off our hands?!)

OK, I’ve vented my Brewer angst for the day. Now, the Blues need to forget about this game. Hopefully, they can get capitalize on some home-ice advantage this Saturday when they face the Anaheim Ducks.