Two goals in the 1st period and 32 saves by goaltender Jordan Binnington helped the St. Louis Blues achieve something that only 7 other franchises in NHL history have done- reach 2000 franchise wins. Jake Neighbours was one key player in the game, as he logged 2/3 of a Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, 1 assist, and a fight in 1 game). Neighbours got the 1st item and the 3rd but couldn’t provide on the Blues’ only other goal as it was an unassisted effort by Noel Acciari.
The Blues are just the 2nd ever 1967 expansion team to do so, after the Philadelphia Flyers, who have logged 2122 franchise victories. St. Louis now sits as the 8th winningest franchise in NHL history, behind Philly and the Original Six franchises of Chicago, the New York Rangers, Detroit, Toronto, Boston, and Montreal, respectively.
Jake Neighbours provided the opening goal for the Blues at 5:30 of the 1st period and later logged a fight against the Senators’ Parker Kelly. Neighbours dominated the tilt, which only lasted about 15 seconds or so before the linesmen stepped in.
That was after Neighbours finished clocking Kelly with right after right. Unsurprisingly, this one was super one-sided considering the fact that Neighbours was 6’0 and beefy at 201 pounds while Kelly weighed in at a shrimp 5’7 and 140 pounds. For the record, I’m about 6’0 and 137, so I actually might’ve had a shot with a dance against Neighbours there.
The Senators’ star player in Tim Stutzle provided the only goal for Ottawa, who fell to their 4th defeat in the past 5 games. This was also their 2nd straight loss, off a 7-0 thrashing by Colorado this past weekend.
Ottawa is 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, compared to St. Louis at 6-4-0. The game against Ottawa was the Blues’ 4th in a season-long 7-game homestand after an OT win and regulation loss against Calgary on Jan. 10 and 12 respectively, followed by a 2nd consecutive loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 14. The remaining homestand contests are against the Nashville Predators on the 19th, the Blackhawks on the 21st, and the Sabres on the 24th. All are slated for an 7 pm puck drop.