Blues suffer gut-wrenching loss on highlight reel goal

It was a tale of two games for the St. Louis Blues against William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

In the first period, the Maple Leafs forward gifted the Blues a goal by knocking the puck into his own net. Nylander’s miscue opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game.

Here’s a look at the faux pas, as shown on the B/R Open Ice X channel:

The goal, credited to Nathan Walker, was a less-than-auspicious start for Nylander and the Maple Leafs. For the Blues, it was a great way to build momentum. However, the game turned into a tight-checking affair with Jordan Binnington dueling it out with St. Louis native Joseph Woll on the other end.

The Blues and Maple Leafs traded goals, with the Blues tying the game at two on a Dalibor Dvorsky power play goal in the second period.

The game remained tied, leading to overtime. It seemed as though the game was headed to the shootout, but then, Nylander atoned for his earlier mistake by scoring a highlight-reel goal.

Here’s a look:

It was a gut-wrenching end to an otherwise solid game by the Blues. Binnington kept the club in the game all night long. The team avoided careless mistakes while holding the Maple Leafs’ mostly decimated lineup in check.

It was a terrible way to end a good game. But it's worth pointing out that it took a highlight-reel goal to beat a solid Blues squad on Tuesday night.

Blues could have easily skated away with a win in Toronto

Ultimately, the Blues’ game on Tuesday night came down to a series of lucky bounces. The Blues had just as much of a chance to win as the Maple Leafs did.

That sentiment was echoed in post-game comments from veteran blueliner Cam Fowler. NHL.com caught Fowler’s comments, stating:

“I think if we look back on it, a couple bounces here or there, we could be looking at a different outcome. But at the end of the day we have to find a way to start putting some wins in the win column here. No matter what it takes or how we have to do it, it’s a results-based game, so we have to find a way to start stacking some wins here.”

While the Blues didn’t get the win on Tuesday night, salvaging a point is a good place to start. These types of games, however bitter they are to swallow, could signal the beginning of a streak of good games.

As long as the Blues are in games well into the third period and overtime, the opportunity to win will always be there. Based on the Law of Averages alone, the Blues should win their fair share. So, it will boil down to getting a couple of breaks here and there.

Of course, as the saying goes, “you have to be good to be lucky.” The Blues are certainly a good team. So, it might just be a matter of time before luck turns in the Blues’ favor.