St. Louis Blues hockey without Philip Broberg…Hollway injured!
St. Louis Blues look for their second straight win, and now begin life without Broberg on defense after his injury against Toronto will sideline him for 4 to 6 weeks. The other defensemen will have to step up to fill the hole in the lineup, including Perunovich and Kessel who know this is their chance. PO Joseph will move up to play with Justin Faulk.
Jordan Binnington can pass Jake Allen for second in wins in franchise history with the W (148 career wins).Binnington is three wins shy of the St. Louis Blues all time wins total held by his agent Mike Liut -151 (one of my all time favorite goaltenders).
Andrei Vasilevskiy in net for Tampa Bay…Binnington only 151 wins behind Andrei who has 299. Tampa is 7-5-0 on the season and the Blues 6-6-0. The Lightning are playing the last game of a 4-game road trip.
Hollway injured...taken off on a stretcher...
The story of the first period was Dylan Holloway taking a shot up high in the neck area. He continues on his shift, however when he gets to the bench, he is attended to by the training team...subsequently taken off the ice on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Odd play as Holloway played a full-out shift before coming to the bench and being looked at by the Blues trainers. Scary situation! With the stoppage the refs send the teams to the locker room with 1.11 minutes left on the clock…teams will finish the 1.11 and then switch ends for the start of the second period.
Shots nine to three Tampa Bay at the first intermission. Five of Tampa’s shots were on the power play and the three shots for the Blues is the fewest in any period this season. Tie game at zero.
Reported later that Holloway was in stable condition at the hospital. Good News!!
Refocus needed…Period 2…And I beg of you - SHOOT THE PUCK!
Tampa gets on the board in the first three minutes after Binnington made a great pad save but the puck sneaks under him and slowly creeps over the goal line. Matt Kessel and Scott Perunovich caught on the ice for an extended minute and 30 seconds.
Oskar Sundqvist gets a rebound of a Kessel shot from the blue line…redeemer…Oskar fires it past Vasilevskiy for his first of the season and we are tied up at 7:57.
With 1:35 left in the second period the fourth line comes through with some great forechecking and the puck pops out to Alexey Toropchenko fires it top shelf over the left shoulder of Vasilevskiy. Perunovich with a strong play on the boards to get the puck deep. Blues lead 2 to 1 and have tied up the shots at 15 each...did they hear me??
Third Period…Gotta hold em’…
Blues 4-0 when leading after two periods. The Blues have had the physical edge in the game through two periods with 19 hits to six. Nathan Walker leading the physical play. Need to continue the hard hits.
Just over five minutes in, Colton Parayko takes a hooking penalty…and the Blues hold the Lightning shotless. Good aggressive kill. 3-on-1…3 to 1…Blues add on with a 3-on-1 break Brandon Saad, Brayden Schenn, and Jordan Kyrou…a great pass by Schenn across to Kyrou alone in front and he redirects it past Vasilevskiy to make it 3 to 1. Binnington started the breakout with a solid clear from behind the net.
Lightning capitalizes on a failed clearing attempt and Victor Hedman fires one from the point to beat Binnington. Blues lead 3 to 2 with just over eight minutes left.
5 Minutes…5 Minutes…Tampa pulls the goalie with just over 1:30 left…Blues hanging on…Lightning ice the puck with 25 seconds left and give the Blues a great break… Last push by the Lightning with 10 seconds left but the Blues hold them off…BIG win 3 to 2!
Observations: Binnington gets his 149-career win…Suter calmest player on the ice - skating like he’s 29… Zachary Bolduc played a solid game… Fourth line aggressive all game… Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Justin Faulk teamed well together… Blues end up with the lead in shots - did they hear me? LET'S GO BLUES!!
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