St. Louis Blues Lose To Ottawa Senators In Shootout

The St. Louis Blues (14-6-2) lost to the Ottawa Senators (10-7-4) 3-2 in a shootout in St. Louis Tuesday night.  This game was the last of two regular season meetings between the two teams.  The Blues and Senators last saw each other on Saturday when the Blues won 3-2 in a physical game.  Ottawa entered tonight’s match up with two consecutive losses, St. Louis with two consecutive wins.  Jay Bouwmeester missed his second game due to a lower body injury which gave Chris Butler his second night in the NHL this season.

Tonight’s loss took away the hold the Blues had on the first place position of Central Division, allowing the Nashville Predators to overtake them in the standings by a point.

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GAME RECAP

The teams played some quick routine hockey in the first seven minutes, each allowing few shots.  At 7:36 Patrick Wiercioch blocked Joakim Lindstrom and was called for interference.  Right off the face-off the Blues put the puck in the net but it was considered a no goal due to contact with the goalie.  The Blues left the power play with no shots.  At 14:23 Ian Cole took a shot from the blue line that found the net the put the Blues up 1-0.  Ryan Reaves and Maxim Lapierre received assists.  Barret Jackman and Zack Smith dropped their gloves at 18:05 but didn’t fight.  They still received matching minors putting play 4 on 4 for the remainder of the period.

The second period started with increased intensity from the Senators.  At 1:39 Paul Stastny took a holding call putting the Blues on their first penalty kill.  The Senators took control but the Blues managed to kill the penalty.  Then at 15:02 David Legwand received a holding minor giving the Blues another chance at a power play.  The Blues were able to take a few shots but failed to score.  David Backes and Kyle Turris took matching roughing minors for a scuffle after the play at 10:12 for another two minutes of 4 on 4 play.  With 28 seconds left in the penalties Curtis Lazar tripped Vladimir Tarasenko as he entered the blue zone to put play at 4 on 3.

At 12:05, Alexander Steen scored on the power play to make the score 2-0 and to put the teams at even strength.  Stastny and Kevin Shattenkirk received assists.  With six minutes left the Senators plugged away at a loose puck in the crease.  The refs blew the play down and Chris Butler and Erik Condra scuffled after the play earning them 5 minute fighting majors.  The officials reviewed the play and called a no goal due to contact with the goalie.  Consequently, Brian Elliot was injured on the play and Jake Allen took his place in the net.

Eric Gryba got his hands up high and shoved Lapierre into the boards during the next play which led to a fight between Reaves and Gryba.  Both received 5 minute fighting majors.  In the following play Colin Greening retaliated against Kevin Shattenkirk for a hit on another player to take a penalty.  The Blues maintained good pressure, but couldn’t score with the advantage.  Still, they left the period in the lead at 2-0.

32 seconds into the third period, Turris was called for holding, giving the Blues a 5 on 4 advantage.  The Senators cleared a lot of the play to prevent the Blues from scoring.  At 4:45 Steve Ott was called for holding a stick giving the Senators their second power play.  The Blues left their penalty kill maintaining the score.  However, Condra redirected a shot from Gryba to put the Senators on the board at 7:55.  Lindstrom took the Blues’ second stick holding penalty shortly after the next face-off allowing the Senators their third power play.  The Blues killed it off.

At 11:16 Mike Hoffman was called for cross-checking Cole.  The Blues maintained decent pressure but left the power play without a shot.  With 1:47 left, the Senators pulled their goalie for a 6 on 5 advantage.  With 41 seconds left, Alex Chiasson scored to tie the game at two and send the game into overtime.

Both teams played overtime intensely with highlights being a T.J. Oshie breakaway, a Senators’ goalpost shot, and a 3 on 2 breakaway by the Blues followed by return break by the Senators and a third break by the Blues.  Neither team scored and the game went into a shootout.

Oshie hit the goalie’s pads.  Turris hit a blocker.  Steen couldn’t elevate the puck over the pads.  Hoffman tried for the 5 hole but couldn’t get through.  Tarasenko hit a pad.  Bobby Ryan scored past the glove to give the Senators the win.

HOW THEY PLAYED

The Blues’ fourth line has maintained its point streak by scoring the first goal in the game.  It seems like the only two lines that have been locked in are the Blues third and fourth lines.  The first and second lines have been shuffled quite a bit and still don’t seem to be fully working, which is problematic.  Solving these production problems in what should be the top lines is necessary in order for the Blues to become a consistently competitive.  In the mean time, it is fun to watch Ryan Reaves, Steve Ott and Maxim Lapierre make key plays instead of being liabilities with minimal ice time.  I hope these three can keep up their efforts.

When these teams last met on Saturday the game was extremely physical though no fights broke out.  This game got off to a much tamer start, likely due to the Senators not being as well rested from playing yesterday.  Things ignited throughout the second period and there was a lot of physical action, fighting and frustration.  To the Blues’ credit, the players maintained cooler heads and did not draw penalties from emotion.  The Senators on the other hand did, which cost them a goal.  The game could have been much different had the Blues not played with discipline.

The Blues had several chances to capitalize on the Senators’ penalties.  While they scored on one of the power plays they should have had at least one more power play goal due to the number of chances they were given.  The Blues have a 25% in power plays this season so far and are currently ranked third.  Tonight they were 16% and an additional goal would put them at 33%.  While 33% is above their average it is still a number to try and hit in games as well as throughout the season.  Ultimately, not being able to take advantage of these opportunities was a big factor in the team’s loss tonight.

Overall the players played a much tighter game than we’ve seen earlier this season.  They adjusted to the increased pressure from the Senators well in the third period.  They also managed to close a large shot gap, though they lost it later.  The Blues play a strong game but they aren’t operating at full capacity.

What did you think of the game?  Leave your thoughts in the comments below.