St. Louis Blues Crush Buffalo Sabres in Physical Game

The St. Louis Blues (10-4-1) defeated the Buffalo Sabres (3-12-2) 6-1 in tonight’s game. The Blues entered this game following a close win against the New Jersey Devils and a loss to the Nashville Predators. The win tonight was a step in restarting a winning streak and making up not only for a loss against the Predators, but the vicious 3 goal assault in the 3rd period against the Devils. Tonight’s game was also Chris Stewart’s first return to St. Louis following his trade to Buffalo for Ryan Miller last season. The game was full of a lot of action and was a good sign of things to come from the St. Louis Blues.

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The teams went back and forth for most of the early minutes of the game with the Blues having a slight advantage in possession. At 4:51 Tyler Meyers took a holding penalty allowing the Blues a power play. The Blues couldn’t handle the puck and left the power play with only a couple of chances. After a charge to the net by Vladimir Tarasenko at 8:37, Mike Weber tripped Jaden Schwartz to give the Blues their second power play. They played it better than the first but came up empty.

The teams went back and forth for a long while. The Sabres had a few scary scoring chances. At 17:08 Jori Lehtera scored with assists by Tarasenko and Schwartz. The Blues ended the period with a one goal lead although they were out shot 15 to 10.

The teams traded chances again at the start of the second. At 3:21 Lehtera gave an encore performance by scoring his second goal with assists from Tarasenko and Schwartz to put the game at 2-0. The Blues kept the Sabres on the defensive for a while. At 13:10 Tyler Ennis had a drive to the net that was saved by Elliot. As the play finished Ian Cole twisted Ennis into the boards which started two brawls after the play. Alexander Steen and Ennis both got five minutes for their fight, which drew blood. Cole and Nikita Zadorov both got five for their fight while Cole earned an extra two minutes for roughing which was served my Magnus Paajarvi.

Despite being shorthanded, at 14:26 Schwartz gained a break and fed Lehtera for his third of the night with the additional assist from Barret Jackman. The Blues killed the penalty and maintained their 3-0 lead. As the period came to its final minutes the Blues made a strong push and put a lot of shots on goal.

Right off the hop in the third there was another brawl between the teams. Steen, Carl Gunnarson, Cody McCormick and Chris Stewart all received matching 2 minute penalties for roughing with Steen gaining an additional two minutes to give the Sabres an advantage. Shortly into the penalty kill, Ennis scored closing the gap at 3-1. Buffalo carried the momentum for the next few minutes and had a few chances. At 5:20 Mike Weber tossed Steen into the net after the play to earn a roughing penalty and give the Blues another power play. The Blues kept the Sabres on their heels but couldn’t score.

Shortly after the power play ended Steve Ott received a holding penalty to give the Sabres another power play chance. With 24 seconds left in the power play Cody Hodgson was called for interference after sending Alex Pietrangelo into the net. The Blues struggled to keep the puck in the Sabres’ zone during their 1:36 power power play and couldn’t make anything happen. The teams played rough and at 14:18 Nicolas Deslauriers speared Tarasenko for a five minute match penalty.

During the five minutes the Blues had an advantage they put on an amazing show. At 16:28 David Backes scored the first power play goal off a deflection from a Kevin Shattenkirk shot with an additional assist from Steen. At 17:39 Joakin Lindstrom scored the second with assists by Steen and Paajarvi. At 18:37 Lindstrom scored the third and his second with assists from Steen and Shattenkirk. The power play ended with 39 seconds left in the period and the Blues closed out the game 6-1.

Tonight’s game may have been the most dynamic and exciting of the season. Between the fights, Lehtera becoming the third hat trick player on the team and the three goal rally at the end; the Blues had a strong night.

Alexander Steen was in the spotlight for most of the evening for physicality. He served nine minutes in penalties and drew blood in an early fight with Tyler Ennis. In the late game Steen held a cooler head and kept himself from earning another matching roughing penalty which gave the Blues a power play. Steen later assisted three goals.

Jori Lehtera played an all-star game by scoring the Blues’ first three goals of the game and becoming a member of the hat trick club with line mates Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. While it is great that these three players are doing so well, until the three goal rally in the third it was worrisome. Up until tonight this line had been the only one gaining points and winning the games. The later push changed all that, fortunately, and it is nice to see Backes, Steen, and Shattenkirk performing. It is also nice to see the Blues work a strong power play.

During the game against the Predators on Saturday Coach Hitchcock said that he wanted players other than Tarasenko doing work. Certainly, Tarasenko is a high profile player and he has proved his worth to the team and league. If he gets injured the Blues will be in trouble. It isn’t an unlikely idea that someone might want to help Tarasenko find his way to the IR. Whether or not it was intentional or a heat-of-the-moment move, the spearing call against Deslauriers brought this possibility to light. Following the hit the Blues showed they could function without Tarasenko (even though he remained in the game) and may have put a lot of those concerns at ease.

Speaking of Nicolas Deslauriers, Buffalo cannot be happy with him. Last Thursday when the Blues played the Devils, we saw how a Blues lead can be taken away in the final minutes. Tonight’s game was mostly a 90 minute tug-of-war and if Buffalo would have pulled their goalie for a six on five they may have been able to make it a closer game. Earning a match penalty (which is called when a player intentionally tries to injure another and results in ejection and mandatory five minutes short-handed) with a little over five minutes left is a game ruining move. Especially when you are playing a top team. Especially when you are dead last in the league. Deslauriers may be getting a little more bench time in the coming week.

What are your thoughts on the game? Leave a comment and let us know.

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