After a horrible game in Boston, the St. Louis Blues traveled north of the border to face the Ottawa Senators. Although they had a good first minute of the game, it was a mess of the first 10 minutes.
The Blues opening couple of shifts were solid, with some jump and creating a couple looks at goal. Then, Jordan Kyrou got hurt in a knee collision.
Shortly after that, the Senators had some odd-man rushes. Brady Tkachuk then went down with an injury that got Robert Thomas called for a double-minor, evea hitven though there was no blood and the refs needed a review to call any penalty at all. Tkachuk came back during the power play, but Kyrou remained out.
Thankfully, the Blues managed to kill the entire four minutes off with a solid PK. However, 11 minutes into the period, St. Louis still only had one shot on goal.
The Blues were forced to do more defending as Jake Neighbours took a bogus tripping call as he was backing into the zone, and the Senator fell down. St. Louis killed that off, but Neighbours went right back in when he slipped, kicked out his leg, and tripped an Ottawa player.
Somehow, the Blues managed to kill that off too, but St. Louis spent almost half the period in the box. Their second shot came in the final minute, meaning they played 18 minutes without any offense.
That continued into the second period, as did the penalty problems. Brayden Schenn took a high-sticking call about six minutes in, which was actually the Senators player's stick hitting himself, but you cannot review those unless it's a double-minor or major, which it wasn't.
St. Louis didn't get their third shot of the game until it was nine and a half minutes into the second. The offense finally came to life in the second half of the period, but they still relied heavily on Joel Hofer, who made several key saves to keep it scoreless.
The Blues finally got a power play when Claude Giroux took a hook. It seemed as though the power play would go by with just a post hit, but eventually the Blues set up a one-timer for Brayden Schenn on the right circle. The save was made, but it popped straight up into the air and Neighbours managed to bunt it in to make it 1-0 with 2:24 left.
The Blues had a play reminiscent of their 2019 and 2020 form to open the third. They dumped it in off the opening faceoff, pressured on the forecheck, and held the zone on the right wall. Pavel Buchnevich fed a shot/pass across the zone, and Neighbours picked up his second just 12 seconds in.
The Senators kept pushing, and the Blues kept giving them opportunities. Schenn couldn't decide whether to clear or try to bump pass a loose puck to himself, which kept it in the defensive zone. Dylan Holloway was forced to try a clearance that went over the glass and gave another Ottawa power play.
Remarkably, the Blues managed to kill that off as well. Hofer made an unbelievable toe save on a drive to the net, but the Blues took a slashing call. Their penalty kill finally cracked as the Senators scored from the left post after a shot from the slot. It was 2-1 with 4:21 left.
Hofer made another left pad save with about 2:30 left. Somehow, the Blues managed to survive the scramble on the rebound.
Robert Thomas tried to go for the empty net when the Blues got the puck just as the goalie started leaving. In typical Blues fashion, somehow Linus Ullmark got back to just get a stick on it.
The Blues had several cracks at the empty net from their own zone. Thomas took another and missed. Sundqvist panicked and slammed it down the ice, which sent Jim Montgomery into a fit. Hofer took a chance and just missed by a foot, and then Sundqvist tried to bang it off the wall and out and it still went the entire way.
It was a crazy finish just to that point, but then there were some scraps in the final 10 seconds. Even Hofer came out of his crease to pull someone off his teammate. In a rare turn of good luck, the Blues came out with a power play in the final seven seconds, which also moved the faceoff to the Ottawa zone. That sealed a tough 2-1 win.
Pro: Hofer
It should have been two shutouts in two games. If the Blues wouldn't have gone in the box so much, it would have been 2-0.
Regardless, Hofer won this game for the Blues. While St. Louis had 39 shots in Boston, you never felt they forced the goalie to win the game. Hofer faced 41 shots and stole the two points for St. Louis in Ottawa.
He almost had a goal and almost got in a fight as well. It was an eventful night for #30.
Con: Injuries
You lose Jordan Kyrou early in the game. I'd like to think it's precautionary, but if I'm guessing, I'd say it's a ligament issue, and he'll be out awhile. He could put a tiny bit of pressure on it, but given how this season has gone, I'd say he's out.
It seemed like it went from bad to worse when Philip Broberg took a puck off his foot. He missed a shift or two, so it felt like he'd be out as well.
Broberg did return, but until he suits up against Montreal, I won't be confident he's not hurt either. The last two long-term Blues injuries had guys finish the game, and then they were out two months. I hope that's not the case, but we'll see.
Pro: Penalty kill
Yes, the Blues did take one too many penalties since they allowed a key goal late in the game. However, when you kill off six other power plays, you're doing something right.
It wasn't like they just absorbed the pressure either. They're still not as aggressive as some other teams, but they weren't just sitting back in their defensive box either.
We've seen Blues special teams make improvements and then go right back to being horrible, but hopefully this game can be a catalyst for the PK
Pro: Jake the Snake
The way the game started, it seemed like this was destined to be a big con for Jake Neighbours. He opened the game with two consecutive penalties and contributed to a first period where the Blues had zero opportunities for offense.
He definitely turned around. Two goals ended up being the difference.
Neighbours continues to be one of the only guys who consistently went to the net. He was also just a general pest, which is something the Blues need.
Overview:
As tough as this season has been, where even wins haven't been fun, this game had a different vibe. It just felt better, even though there were plenty of problems.
The refs were definitely not on the Blues side. Even if you don't have any problems with the calls they made, it's pretty rare for one team to get seven power plays and the other to only have one.
Nevertheless, the Blues banded together and got it done. The offense had no chances at all early, but finally managed two goals on 20 shots. You'd still like more chances, but they at least took advantage.
The defense allowed too much, but it never felt like the Blues were just under siege for a long stretches. Ultimately, they got the job done, too.
I do not see a 2019 run for this team. However, I could see this game be at least a turning point the way the game in Philadelphia was for that team in that season. This team won't have time to visit any bars for theme songs since they're off to Montreal for a Sunday game, but the win itself could be a turning point. Time will tell.