Blues And Lindbohm Break Out Against Bruins

The St. Louis Blues (38-16-4) defeated the Boston Bruins (28-21-9) 5-1 Friday night in St. Louis, Missouri.  This was the second of two regular season meetings between these teams.  They last faced off in November in a game that resulted in a 2-0 win for the Bruins.

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The Bruins hadn’t fared so well in their recent games, though, with a loss streak of five games.  The Blues, in a semi-rut of their own, lost their previous game to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.  The time off did the Blues well and may have helped earned the win tonight.  This brings them closer the Nashville Predators who are in first in the Central Division and had the night off.  This win also maintains a buffer between the Blues and the third place Chicago Blackhawks who were tied in their own game at the conclusion of the Blues’.

GAME RECAP

The game started with high energy and the Bruins recorded an early shot.  After 1:36 Ian Cole went to the box for hooking.  The Blues killed the penalty and only allowed a shot.  The Bruins continued to put up pressure through the first half of the period.  After 10 minutes, the Blues had zero shots to the Bruins’ six.

At 10:42 Brad Marchand scored after his shot flopped over Jake Allen’s glove to put the Bruins up 1-0.  After a little over 12 minutes, the Blues recorded their first shot on goal.  Then with 4 minutes left, the Blues started to put up offense and take more shots, but the Bruins quickly shut this down.

Feb 20, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Malcolm Subban (70) allows a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

With 25 seconds left, David Backes was called for hooking.  The period ended with the Bruins up 1-0 carrying a 8-3 shot lead.

The second period started with 1:35 remaining in Backes’ penalty.  However, 44 seconds in, David Krejci went to the box for tripping.  Right off the following faceoff, Petteri Lindbohm scored his first NHL goal from the blue line to tie the game at 1.  Carl Gunnarsson and Jaden Schwartz earned the assists.

At 1:36 the David Backes returned to give the Blues 1:09 of power play time.  The Blues didn’t do much with it, though.  Then at 3:07 Backes returned to the box after he and Dougie Hamilton were called for slashing.

Feb 20, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (27) is congratulated by teammates Alexander Steen (20) and Jay Bouwmeester(19) and Jori Lehtera (12) after scoring a goal against the Boston Bruins during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

At 4:16 Alex Pietrangelo scored low from the left dot to put the Blues up 2-1.  Jay Bouwmeester and Alexander Steen earned assists.  Then at 5:09 T.J. Oshie scored high from the right dot to increase the Blues’ lead to 3-1.  Steen and Cole received assists.  The Bruins took Malcolm Subban from the net and put in Tuukka Rask.  The teams evened out their play for most of the middle of the period.

At 13:16 Jordan Caron put Oshie into the boards.  Lindbohm dropped his gloves and fought Caron; both went to the box for fighting but Caron took an additional roughing call to give the Blues a powerplay.  Then at 13:59 Vladimir Tarasenko scored a power play goal off a rebound the boost the Blues’ lead to 4-1.  Oshie and Steen earned the assists.

Pietrangelo took a delay of game penalty at 17:04.  The Blues allowed a few shots but cleared well to kill the penalty.  The Blues ended the period with a 4-1 lead despite being outshot 19 to 11.

The Bruins put up a big attack at the start of the third period.  At 4:08 Marchand went to the box for cross-checking.  The Blues made great use of the power play but came out empty-handed.  The teams continued to battle tough through the middle of the period.

The Blues broke this at 11:45, though, when Tarasenko scored his second of the game to give the Blues a comfortable 5-1 lead.  Schwartz and Jori Lehtera received the assists.  Seconds later, Patrik Berglund took a tripping penalty.  One minute into the kill Barret Jackman joined Berglund in the box for cross-checking.  The Bruins returned goaltender Subban to the net.

The Blues held on and killed the initial penalty.  They kept the puck out of the defensive zone as they killed the second, only allowing one shot in total.  The Blues continued to keep the Bruins back as the clock ran down and closed the game 5-1.

HOW THEY PLAYED

The first period of this game was difficult to watch.  The Blues couldn’t make anything happen and couldn’t keep the puck under their control.  The Bruins did a great job of keeping the Blues on the defensive.  It took a very long time for the Blues to get their first shot, and another long span until their second and third shots of the period.

The second period was the pinnacle of the game for the Blues.  Petteri Lindbohm broke the game open with his goal, and led the way to three more in the period.  Lindbohm returned to the Blues after being sent back to the AHL last December.  He displayed his worth this game with not only his goal, but his fight to back-up T.J. Oshie following a rough hit.  With Kevin Shattenkirk still out to injury, it is nice to see a defender who can create plays and earn points.

Feb 20, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) as seen waiting for a face-off during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

Lindbohm earned player of the game and he deserved it.  It is also important to bring up Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen who haven’t been as hot in recent games.  It seems that when the Blues hit a slump, they come back with production across the board, which we saw tonight.

One problem, though, was the number of penalties the Blues took tonight.  Not only did they receive a handful but a lot of them were ill-timed.  David Backes, who is notorious for his team-leading penalty minutes took two almost back-to-back.  Barret Jackman, another veteran and team-leader displayed bad judgement when he cross-checked a player while already on a penalty kill.  These are the kinds of mistakes that could easily shift the momentum of a game.  The Blues are lucky they were strong on their kill.

Now, they just need to keep working on passing and probably try to take a dozen or so more shots.

What are your thoughts?  Leave a comment below.

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