When it was pointed out to Troy Brouwer that it had been a while since the Blues scored before his tally Tuesday night, he wittily replied: “Yeah, we were on the All-Star break for a week.”
True, the eight days off made it seem a lot longer. But going back before the break, the offense had been blanked in the team’s final game in Chicago and netted just three goals in its last three. The situation was worrisome enough that Blues coach Ken Hitchcock moved Alexander Steen to center and David Backes to right wing Tuesday against Nashville.
A refreshed roster and new look up front did not produce overwhelming results, but the Blues did stay persistent against the Predators. And with Brian Elliott stopping everything he sees these days, they came up with just enough.
Brouwer scored his 10th goal of the season with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining in regulation, and Elliott finished with 16 saves for a 1-0 victory over the Preds.
So the Blues, despite scoring just four goals in their last four games, are 2-1-1 in that stretch, earning five of a possible eight points. Elliott’s shutout extended his Blues franchise record to 22, and it was the club’s second straight against Nashville at Bridgestone Arena, including Jake Allen’s 45-save performance in a 4-0 win in November.
The Blues went into the third period looking for their first goal since Steen scored against Colorado on Jan. 22. They had been blanked in six straight periods, denied on a combined 48 shots. Magnus Paajarvi, who was back in the lineup Tuesday after missing seven games because of an upper-body injury, nearly picked up a goal early in the third period. Back on a line with Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko, Paajarvi took a feed from Stastny on Rinne’s doorstep. But the netminder got his left leg across in time for the denial. But late in the game, the Blues, who finished with just 23 shots on goal, got the one they needed. They continued to pressure the Preds, keeping the puck in the offensive zone for an estimated 57 seconds on the game-winning goal. For a second time in the same sequence, rookie Robby Fabbri worked the puck around the Nashville net to defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who put a one-timer on net. The goal ended a scoreless drought of 145:58 for the Blues, who ended a two-game winless skid and halted Nashville’s winning streak at four games. The club’s first three wins over Nashville this season were behind Allen. But he remained on the injured list coming out of the All-Star break, so Elliott got his first assignment against the Predators this season.
Though he didn’t face a lot of shots, the 16 were a season-low against the Blues, he picked up where he left off. Elliott is now 6-2-2 since replacing Allen.
Blues Quotes
Troy Brouwer: “We know there’s goals in here to be had, we know that we have good enough players to score goals, and they will come. All throughout the league goals are down, but we still want to be able to score and not have to win 1-0 every night. But if that’s what needs to be done, that’s how we’ll do it.”Alex Pietrangelo: “We almost did it about 15-20 seconds before, but it didn’t work. (Fabbri) kind of looked at me the same way, coming over. It was right on the spot, too, pretty pass. I was just trying to get it to the front of the net. When you’ve got guys in front, you never know what’s going to happen. Obviously a good bounce, but ‘Brouws’ got rewarded.”
Ken Hitchcock: “I thought we played so much better in the second and third period. We knew weathering the storm here is a difficult challenge, but I thought of the (four) games we’ve played, this is the best we’ve played over 60 minutes. We had more forecheck, more ‘hunt on the puck.’ The goal is a perfect example; we turn it over on the forecheck four times and ended up scoring a goal because of it. [Elliott’s] the best player on our team right now. He’s playing exactly how we need him to play right now.”
Brian Elliott: “They had a few more chances in the first period and then it settled down in the second. We did a good job of not allowing them to set up. When they did get set up, nothing was there for them. It’s a testament to our hard work and trying to get the train rolling again. We had the most time off of any team in the NHL and it takes a little bit to get going, but the guys did a good job tonight.”
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