By the end of the game, it wasn’t even all that exciting. It was more of a relief. The St. Louis Blues got the win though and are now tied atop the Central Division.
At first it looked like the St. Louis Blues were going to make their general manager, Doug Armstrong look like a genius. Dmitrij Jaskin got the game started very early, roofing a goal at 3:36 of the first period to give the Blues an early 1-0 lead.
Roofed it! #stlblues pic.twitter.com/5o9L2l69Dw
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 2, 2016
At 12:53 of the first, Jaden Schwartz would get the goal on the powerplay to make it 2-0. That goal was the first of two powerplay goals as the Blues’ man-advantage was cooking with grease on the night.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 30th of the season – the first Blue to have back to back 30 goal seasons since Brad Boyes – in the second period to make it 3-0, firmly setting the Blues in command of the game – or so we thought. The goal was a typical Tarasenko wristed rip that pinged off the crossbar and left Craig Anderson dumbfounded.
St. Louis couldn’t keep the shutout going as Ryan Dzingle scored at the 12:38 mark of the second period. Nevertheless, the Blues finished the period strong and seemed to be poised to stake their claim to a piece of the top spot in the division, even if only briefly
The Blues were flying and then…they put it in cruise control. The third period was a bit of a mess. Jake Allen made some spectacular saves, but also allowed a pretty bad one from an extremely sharp angle that would give the Senators unnecessary life at 3-2.
Then, as the Blues usually make a habit of, they could not score on the empty net. They took a silly penalty toward the end of the game and Jean-Gabriel Pageau would score with 0.1 seconds on the clock. To the naked eye, it appeared the time had elapsed and the goal would not count. Instead, the Blues fell apart for the second time in a row against Ottawa.
More from St Louis Blues News
- St. Louis Blues Giving Nick Ritchie A Look Is No Lose Situation
- St. Louis Blues Torey Krug Already Injured Before 2023-24 Season
- Former St. Louis Blues Forward Going Into Hall Of Fame
- Can Hofer Upstage Binnington in Starting Goalie Spot for Blues?
- St. Louis Blues 2023-24 fourth line depth chart could be surprisingly strong
Both sides had some quality chances in overtime, including several odd-man rushes and even a breakaway. The goaltenders stood tall, which would become a theme not long after that.
The shootout would decide this cross-conference matchup and it would take 22 shooters to finish the contest. 10 rounds went by without a goal before Patrik Berglund finally made a decent move and hit the back of the net in the 11th round to give the Blues a 4-3 win overall.
Negatives:
While both goaltenders, Allen and Andrew Hammond, made some good saves in the shootout, it must be said that the attempts by both teams left something to be desired. No goals were scored at all until Berglund’s.
Injury woes had nothing to do with the team’s collapse in this one. The defense fell asleep and the offense seemed to lose interest in keeping the pressure on. Allen did not play his best on some of the goals as well.
Next: Blues were wise to not make a trade
Positives:
A win is a win is a win. Let the league figure out tie-breakersm if it comes to that, in regards to regulation wins. The Blues needed all the points and they got them. Yes, they gave up a point, but Ottawa is in the East so it makes no difference.
The Blues are back on a good streak. They looked incredibly solid in the first two periods and are doing their best to put that three game losing streak way in the rear-view mirror.
The big guys got goals. Tarasenko had gone quiet lately and needed one in this game to build off. After initially being so hot, Schwartz had hit a bit of an energy wall once his adrenaline wore off and so did the exhuberance of him being back. He also needed to get another one on the board. Jaskin’s was a bonus. He needed one to get a few people off his back as well as reward the faith that the coaching staff had shown him by keeping him on the team in favor of other names.