Three Takeaways from Blues win over Rangers, 3-2

The St. Louis Blues played a very good hockey game in their 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers. Despite beating a team that has been free-falling over the past few weeks, they pick up a key two points in a tight Central Divison.

Here are three takeaways from last night's game. Side note: the Blues rocked their retro uniforms last night, and despite alot of backlash on our most recent Facebook post about wearing them more often, they looked great out there.

1. Kyrou is heating up at home

The Blues have been shaky at Enterprise Center this season. At 6-7-1, they haven't been able to use their home ice to their advantage yet. One player has been able to take advantage of it so far, and that is arguably the best player on this roster, Jordan Kyrou.

Those numbers don't lie. He has been great this season as a whole, with a team-leading 13 goals, and 27 points on the year. He has nearly gotten half those goals on home-ice, which has helped keep them near .500.

The Blues have to rely on Kyrou for the rest of the season, as he alongside Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway the three-headed monster this team needs to be successful. Kyrou

2. Fowler / Parayko pairing is for real

Recently acquired defenseman Cam Fowler has settled in just nicely with the blues since coming over from Anaheim. In his first game against Dallas, he was paired up with d-man Justin Faulk, and it went well but not great. Fast forward to Sunday's matchup against the Rangers, and he, alongside Colton Parayko, was the best pairing on the ice for the game.

The pairing was outstanding for the Blues and should be considered as the going tandem for the rest of the season. Having them on the first defensive line will benefit this team mightily, and the fact that they have already gained this much chemistry on their first go-around is amazing.

3. Hofer still deserves more starts despite a rocky third-period

Through the first 40 minutes of Sunday's game, goaltender Joel Hofer held Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere to no-goals. That is an outstanding job by the back-up goaltender.

This game was the battle of the back-ups, with the Rangers electing to sit their record-setting goalie, Igor Shesterkin, for long-revered veteran, Jonathan Quick. Hofer won this battle and looked great in doing so. Well, until the third intermission ended.

The Rangers came storming back with a set of goals in a 1:19 span in the third. Brett Berard and Will Cuylle were able to sneak a goal each past Hofer, who stopped 26 out of 28 shots. Despite nearly giving up the game in the final frame, it should go without saying that HHofer should still get more starts going forward.

AS evident in this game and the game against Dallas, goaltending is going to be a main priority as the front lines cannot seem to get many shots on the opposing net. Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, despite being incredible this season, was only forced to stop 16 shots, allowing one goal. Quick only had to stop 24 shots, in which he saved 21. Those are extremely low numbers for a talented forward group like this.

Divy up the starts between Binnington and Hofer. Keeping the legs fresh will be important for the rest of the season. Give the backup a shot, and watch him either flourish or fail.