The St. Louis Blues battled through a hard win over the Vegas Golden Knights, with the puck dropping just 26 hours prior to a matchup with the Montreal Canadiens. Would the Blues show up or would it be that other thing that wears their jerseys, but doesn't really play pro hockey?
Well, for once, the Blues managed to get off to a pretty good start. They had some early jump and were actually creating some chances instead of simply hoping to survive the first five minutes or so.
St. Louis broke through with the first goal of the game as well. After creating some good pressure, it was Cam Fowler breaking out of a funk to find Jonaten Berggren for the goal. It was Berggren's fifth of the season, which is good for him, but also slightly depressing that he's got half as many goals as the Blues' leading scorer.
Nevertheless, the Blues played a steady game for what was needed against a Montreal team also coming off short rest. Both teams had eight shots, but it was just the 1-0 score after one.
The Blues fell into a few of their typical second-period mistakes, but it wasn't just a complete one-sided affair like we've come to expect. The Blues, again, made the most out of what they were given.
Robert Thomas gave himself an early-year pick-me-up with a shorthanded goal at 10:13, and the Blues needed that as they continued to play with fire. Later in the period, they gave the Canadiens a two-man advantage.
The penalty kill did a solid job, and Jordan Binnington was also having a good game, keeping Montreal off the board. He bailed the Blues out in the dying seconds of the period as well, coming up with a diving toe save to keep the score 2-0 going into the intermission.
Of course, the Blues did themselves no favors by taking a high-sticking penalty in the first three minutes of the third period. St. Louis did kill it off, but Binnington had to make a scrambling save after he got himself out of position once it was back to five-on-five.
The biggest problem the Blues had in the third period was themselves. Montreal wasn't overwhelming them with pressure, but the Blues just couldn't do anything. They didn't clear the puck well, couldn't get any offensive zone time, or any sustained offense. Alexey Toropchenko had their only quality look in the first half of the third, and that came on a rush play.
Binnington made another save, albeit a lucky one, with less than five minutes to go. St. Louis had started to get a little more offensive rhythm prior to that point, but it still felt like they were hanging on more than going for a win.
The Canadiens pulled their goalie with more than three to go, and then it was sweating time. Binnington made two miraculous pad saves with about 3:10 left, and the Blues barely cleared.
Binnington stopped a point-blank shot with about 47 seconds left as the Blues continued to fail at hitting empty nets. Nevertheless, they held on for a nice 2-0 win.
Pro: Binnington
Let's not pretend this was the finest game of his career. Binnington still looked a bit off, especially handling the puck.
But, this was the kind of game he needed. He battled and the team battled.
He finished the game with 25 saves, and several of those were big stops down the stretch. I wouldn't say Binnington was the best player on the ice, but he was the Blues' best player when they needed him most, and that's what you want from your goalie.
He did earn the top star of the night.
Con: Penalties
Overall, I suppose four penalties isn't all that many. It was more how quickly some of them came.
You give the Canadiens a two-man advantage and then also a power play at a key time early in the third. I understand you can't play a completely penalty-free game, but it's more a matter of the Blues taking penalties when they need to be smarter.
The fact that Pavel Buchnevich took the first and last penalties didn't help matters when he's already in the dog house for many fans.
Pro: Holding onto the shutout
Normally, a shutout is a goalie stat, and it definitely helped Binnington's stats and psyche. However, the entire team needed this.
The Blues have been so leaky this season and faltered down the stretch that the entire roster needed the boost of keeping a goose egg on the board. One can argue whether it was truly earned or backed into, but the bottom line is you kept the other team off the scoreboard.
Overview:
It showcases how little you can trust the Blues this season that winning two games in a row doesn't raise expectations. Frankly, it feels less like a winning streak than it does a sigh of relief.
The anger was so high after that Colorado beating that this feels like more of a breath of air than elation. Regardless, as a franchise, we can't focus on the negative.
The Blues are still within striking distance of a playoff spot, and I maintain that the funds earned from playoff home games are more of a priority than a draft spot.
The good thing is that the Blues beat good teams. Montreal isn't top of the line, but they're third in their division, and when the Blues beat Vegas, they were only one point out of the top spot in the Pacific.
In theory, that means they aren't as far off as we think. They're just not on the level of the teams that are on top of their own division, which makes things tough.
Overall, it was a decent watch and reasonably good performance. The Blues still have plenty to learn, but I'd rather they learn from wins than losses.