One Hull of a Game – Blues 4, Flames 3
My physics teacher says that fire and electricity are two equal forces that occur in the natural world. Tonight, in the hockey world, electricity beats out fire.
On Tuesday night, the Blues honored their recent Hall of Fame inductee, Brett Hull, in style. They rounded up Hull’s “Dream Team,” a group of former Notes chosen by Hull himself to remind the sniper just how much he means to St. Louie. The crowd went wild, as Hull told fans that the Blues would hold a special place in his heart “until they bury me in this ground.”
The young Blues fed off the crowd’s excitement from the ceremony and beat the visiting Calgary Flames, who were 5th place in the Western Conference entering tonight’s matchup. The game opened up with a huge physical presence on both sides with plenty of weight-tossing and board slamming.
David Backes started off the night’s scoring on a perfect slap shot that beat Flames’ goalie Curtis McElhinney. The red-hot Backes has 5 points in as many games, including 3 goals in that stretch.
Minutes later the Blues let up a bit of a careless goal, as Dion Phaneuf sent a cross-crease pass that neither defenseman got a stick on. Former Blackhawk Rene Bourque snapped the feed behind Mason to tie the game with 10:44 in the 1st.
But the Blues refused to quit in the period as Andy McDonald sped around a Flames defenseman, beating McElhinney to give the Blues a 2-1 lead with little more than a minute remaining in the period.
The 2nd period found the Blues on their heels quite a bit, as the Flames fought to get back into the game. Their work was rewarded with 2 unanswered goals, first by Daymond Langkow, then Dustin Boyd. Scottrade was eerily silent as the Blues gave up yet another lead at home.
Thankfully, time was on the Blues side, and they kept grinding and working for chances. They got one when the Flames previous scorer, Dustin Boyd, took a hooking penalty, giving the Blues their fourth chance on the powerplay. Alex Steen hammered home a slap shot, tying up the game (with, you guessed it, less than 3 minutes in the period), and slightly improving the Blues league-worst powerplay. It was Steen’s 1st goal in 11 games, only his 2nd on the year.
All this back-and-forth action set up a great 3rd period. Both teams came out firing, but the home team had a distinct advantage, having scored the last goal. The Blues’ blue-liners finally stepped up, holding the Flames to just 4 shots all period.
Then, with les than 5 minutes left in the game, TJ Oshie scored on a terrific feed from Paul Kariya. Oshie roofed a wrister for his 6th on the year.
With 1:08 left in the 3rd period, the Blues did something every coach will tell you not to do: they took a penalty late in the game with an unsafe lead. The Flames pulled the goalie for a 6 on 4 powerplay, but could not penetrate the Blues’ stingy defense. They iced the puck time and time again as the clock ran down for a win on the night and 2 more points. Tonight’s victory was the Blues’ first in four previous home games.
Why were the Blues able to win tonight? Was it because it was Brett Hull night? Was it the presence of former greats like Gretzky, MacInnis, and Garth Butcher? Was it something in the Bud Light? No. The Blues won tonight because they did all the little things right.
Blues’ skaters outshot the visitors 34 to 23, they kept a close watch on Iginla and Phaneuf, they were physical, and most importantly, they made sure that their special teams were on.
Okay so 1 for 4 isn’t so great for a powerplay. So what? Lately Blues fans are more accustomed to zero powerplay goals. We can see that the assistant coaches are mixing things up out there, putting 4 forwards on the man advantage, and trying to avoid predictability. Who else thinks Steen need some more point time? He was very good up there, dishing, handling, and firing like a pro.
Even though the powerplay needs plenty of work, the PK seemed spot on. Our killers stopped 3 out of 4 powerplay efforts for the Flames. Forwards like Oshie and McDonald are keeping the kill fast and smart (which we could use a bit more of on the PP).
Finally our Notes have something to celebrate: a home win. Let’s hope they can ride this wave all the way to the Windy City, where the Blues have their first matchup with the division-leading Blackhawks tomorrow night. If they keep the passion going, the Blues faithful could be looking at their first 3 game winning streak of the season.