Blues Break Loss Steak, Return Shutout To Avalanche

The St. Louis Blues (22-11-3) shutout the Colorado Avalanche (13-15-8) 3-0 tonight in St. Louis. The teams last met a week ago when the Avalanche shutout the Blues 5-0. Both teams have had a single game between then and tonight which were losses. Brian Elliot, Jaden Schwartz and Carl Gunnarsson remained out from injury, though there was talk that Elliot is near ready to return. Prior to the game the Blues sent Petteri Lindbohm to the AHL and placed Magnus Paajarvi on waivers.

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The win tonight snaps the Blues’ 4 game losing streak and is a positive step in climbing back to the top ranks of the Central Division.

GAME RECAP

The game began with strong offense from the Blues, though they weren’t able to outshoot Colorado. After ten minutes Colorado led shots 7 to 3. Nothing much happened for the rest of the period until some shoving after the horn.

28 seconds into the second period Dmitrij Jaskin scored following a goaltender turnover to give the Blues a 1-0. Paul Stastny received the assist. After four minutes the Blues took over in shots and at 4:30 Chris Butler scored to increase the Blues’ lead 2-0. T.J. Oshie and Stastny earned assists. After six minutes Chris Porter left the game after falling and twisting his leg.

At 8:57 Vladimir Tarasenko went to the box for holding. The Blues killed the penalty without allowing a shot. Daniel Briere was called for holding at 12:31. Colorado killed the penalty. The teams played a steady game until the end of the period with not much happening until some more pushing after the horn.

The Blues put forth another offensive start in the third period. After ten minutes they extended their shot lead to 24 to 14. At 15:25 Tarasenko intercepted a pass and put it in the net to earn an unassisted goal and increase the lead 3-0. The Blues continued to hound the Avalanche and earned the shutout.

HOW THEY PLAYED

The Blues controlled most of the first period but still allowed Colorado to outshoot them 8-5. The Avalanche clearly made better use of their minimal chances. The difference between how Colorado and St. Louis played the first period was that Colorado took shots while St. Louis passed the puck a lot. A little less passing and a little more trigger pulling would have helped. 5 shots is too few when you’ve had possession as much as the Blues did.

Martin Brodeur has been a blessing for the Blues. Since Brian Elliot’s injury Jake Allen’s performance has waned. The gamble to sign Brodeur instead of bringing up a minor league goalie has paid off. Brodeur’s age hasn’t reduced his abilities too much and he is still a top tier goaltender. He isn’t just a defensive player either, as we saw in the first period. Brodeur reads the game well and creates offensive plays. He probably deserves more starts than he currently receives. Elliot needs to come full force on his return and Allen needs to tighten his game because Brodeur may be too good to let go.

The Blues did an excellent job of avoiding penalties this game which is something they’ve struggled with for a month. Reducing the amount of game time they spent short handed allowed the Blues to maintain their momentum and put sustained pressure on Colorado. Part of tonight’s victory has to be attributed to their disciplined play.

Ryan Reaves used to be the black sheep of the Blues. This isn’t so much the case any more. He’s been featured in previous articles for being a crucial part of the team in both offense and defense. Now that we’re approaching the halfway point of the season and as Reaves’ contributions have been steady it is clear that these great moments from him this season aren’t flukes.

The Blues snapped their losing streak and made the shutout count with Colorado even. The hard work isn’t over and they’ll need to continue climbing if they want to make up for their recent losses. Tonight’s game shows the team is up for the task.

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