Toronto Maple Leafs @ Blues 1-5 - Thursday, February 02, 2017
Mike Yeo happily got the game puck but the tie the new Blues coach wore received the most attention from his players. What was good, however, was the effort from the Blues (25-21-5), who retired the No. 5 jersey of Bob Plager prior to the game. They scored three goals in the second period and won for the second time in seven games. Yeo, who replaced the fired Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday, won for the first time since Jan. 21, 2016, a 3-0 victory for the Minnesota Wild at the Los Angeles Kings. St. Louis got two goals and one assist from Paul Stastny, one goal and two assists from Colton Parayko and a goal and an assist from Alexander Steen. Vladimir Tarasenko scored and Jake Allen made 26 saves for his first win since defeating the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2017 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic on Jan. 2. The Maple Leafs (23-17-9) lost their third straight on a season-long six-game road trip. Mitchell Marner scored and Frederik Andersen made 26 saves. With the score 1-1 in the second period, the Blues got goals from Stastny and Tarasenko 35 seconds apart. Stastny scored at 6:27 and Tarasenko at 7:02. Parayko's power-play goal at 11:02 put St. Louis ahead 4-1. Stastny's rebound goal at 12:28 of the third made it 5-1. Marner put the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0 at 14:22 of the first, pouncing on a loose puck in the low slot. Steen tied it at 17:58.
* Tarasenko cut around Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly and beat Andersen with a wrist shot high on the short side.
* Andersen kept the game scoreless when he denied Blues forward David Perron on a breakaway at 8:03 of the first period.
* Steen and Stastny worked a perfect pass play from behind the net to the slot for Stastny's goal that made it 2-1.
* Perron created space for linemates Steen and Stastny, who combined for five points. Perron had three shots, three blocks and was a plus-3.
* Stastny's second goal was his 200th in the NHL. ... Rielly returned after missing six games with an ankle injury. ... Steen has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in the past 16 games. ... The Blues top line of Steen, Stastny and Perron was a combined plus-9.
"Obviously [Wednesday] was a tough day for us. ... Obviously we want to win games as fast as possible and we want to win as many as fast as possible, so tonight was a good place to start, but there's a lot of work to be done, for sure." Colton Parayko
"The guys criticized my tie [after the Blues defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in Yeo's debut as coach]. I thought it was pretty good, but apparently it's not. According to them I shouldn't [wear it again]."
"Obviously pretty happy, good start. A lot to like about the game, and obviously some areas where we were a little bit sketchy at the beginning of the game and Jake [Allen] held us in there and came out strong allowed us to find our game. I thought the second period really in a lot of ways [is] the way our game should look." Yeo said.
"We have a new coach and new kind of sense of urgency, kind of new life kicked in us. We wanted to just compete out there. If we would have lost, I think we just wanted to have a better attitude than in the past. So you wanted to get that win. We wanted to get that win for [Yeo] and it's jersey retirement night. Those come around once maybe every 10 years if you're lucky. Somewhere in the back of your mind, if you get the win, you wanted to get five goals for something the Plager family will always remember." Stastny said.
Carter Hutton made 26 saves, and forward Kenny Agostino made his return to the NHL a memorable one by scoring for the Blues in a 2-0 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. Agostino beat goalie Michal Neuvirth on a breakaway to give the Blues a 2-0 lead 2:10 into the third period.
It was Agostino's first NHL game since playing for the Calgary Flames against the Blues on March 14, 2016. The 24-year-old forward was recalled Sunday from Chicago of the American Hockey League, which he leads with 42 assists and 60 points in 48 games. Neuvirth made 14 saves for the Flyers (26-21-7), who were shut out for the second straight game after a 1-0 loss in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Philadelphia has not scored in 122:49, dating to Sean Couturier's empty-net goal with 14 seconds left in a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. The Blues took a 1-0 lead at 15:22 of the second period when Kevin Shattenkirk's one-timer from the right point hit Paul Stastny's right skate and got past Neuvirth. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol challenged that the goal came following an offside play, but it was determined that there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the call. The Flyers outshot the Blues 11-1 in the first period, when they had two shots on goal on two power plays. Philadelphia finished 0-for-4 with six shots on goal on the power play, and is 3-for-32 (9.3 percent) in its past nine games.
* Agostino beat Neuvirth high over his glove from between the hash marks for his second NHL goal, first since April 4, 2014, with the Flames.
* With the Flyers on a 6-on-4 power play late in the third period, Andrew MacDonald took a slap shot from the point, but Hutton tracked the shot through traffic and covered the rebound with 50 seconds left.
* The Blues had a season-high 22 blocked shots, led by defenseman Jay Bouwmeester's five.
* Flyers forward Travis Konecny missed the third period with an undisclosed injury. General manager Ron Hextall said there would be an update Tuesday. ... Philadelphia was shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 19-21, 2015. It is the first time the Flyers have been shut out in consecutive games at home (no road games in between) since Oct. 2 and 7, 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... The last time the Flyers allowed one shot on goal in a period was against the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 3, 2015. The last time they allowed one shot on goal in the first period was against the Edmonton Oilers on March 8, 2011.
* The shutout was Hutton's third of the season, second in his past three starts.
"I've been [in Philadelphia] for hockey growing up my whole life. Being in North Jersey, we played the Little Flyers and Jr. Flyers a million times. Been in this area a lot but first time playing in this building."
"It was a broken play inside the blue line. David Perron] just sprung me, great pass, had a lot of time. I saw, looked like [Neuvirth] was shooting a little bit to the left, so I went top right, and it worked out."
"You never expect it. You learn in this business you always have to be ready. I was happy to get [the call-up] and happy to be here." Kenny Agostino
"I think we've lost some games where we've been out-chancing teams and getting our chances, and they come down and capitalize on their chance. Nice to flip the script." Carter Hutton
Blues @ Ottawa Senators 6-0 - Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Jake Allen made 30 saves, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals for the Blues in a 6-0 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. It was Allen's second shutout of the season, and the second for St. Louis in as many nights after Carter Hutton made 26 saves in a 2-0 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday to begin a five-game road trip. Magnus Paajarvi, Patrik Berglund, Alexander Steen and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Blues (27-22-5), who are 3-1-0 since Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock as coach Feb. 1. The Senators (27-18-6) were shut out for the second game in a row and lost for the fourth time in their past five (1-3-1). Goalie Andrew Hammond, coming back from a high ankle sprain to make his first start since Dec. 18, third of the season, had 24 saves. The line of Tarasenko with Steen (goal, assist) and Paul Stastny (two assists) combined for six points in its second game together under Yeo. The Blues coaching staff is committed to keeping the line together to see if the chemistry continues, Yeo said. Paajarvi, playing his first NHL game since Oct. 18, scored his second goal of the season at 1:51 of the second period to put the Blues up 1-0. Tarasenko made it 2-0 at 6:46 of the second. The goal came seven seconds after a penalty to Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot expired. The Blues scored four goals in the third period. Berglund beat Hammond on the power play at 1:46 to make it 3-0, Steen pushed it to 4-0 at 10:43, and Tarasenko made it 5-0 when he scored his 25th goal at 13:49. Barbashev scored his first NHL goal at 15:01 to make it 6-0. Senators forward Bobby Ryan said Hammond deserved a better effort from his teammates.
* Paajarvi received a pass from Kevin Shattenkirk at the St. Louis blue line, skated the puck into the Ottawa zone, went around Zack Smith in the right faceoff circle and beat Hammond top shelf on the forehand.
* At 1:54 of the first period, Hammond closed his pads to stop Kenny Agostino's backhand while all alone in the slot.
* Stastny made a sharp pass between Senators defenseman Cody Ceci's skates to Tarasenko at the bottom of the left circle for the Blues' second goal.
* Defenseman Joel Edmundson played 18:05 and led the Blues with four hits and three blocked shots.
* After winning five of their first 17 games on the road, the Blues have won five of their past seven with four shutouts. … Senators forward Chris Neil returned to the lineup in place of Curtis Lazar after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. … The Blues have scored two power-play goals in their past six games (2-for-12) after Berglund's in the third period.
"I had a little bit of a funk there and had to find my way back. I went back to my basics, went back to the drawing board and just doing what I'm good at. If I can do that the majority of the time, I'm going to have success. I feel like the last week it's been a really good step for me." Jake Allen
"Those guys [Tarasenko, Steen and Stastny]are too good not to break through at some point. We talked about it. Part of the decision is we like the potential, and we saw that potential come through tonight. The other part of the decision is we liked the rest of the lineup the way it shaped up, and we had some pretty good depth of scoring in our game tonight." Yeo said.
Tarasenko said his linemates are too talented for the line not to work.
"It's like an old new line, you know? We used to play before a lot, but it takes a couple of games, a couple of days to find out and remember this connection. Not only our line, our team has a good mood right now and some big games coming for us. [Steen] and [Stastny] are really good players, and it's not hard to find the chemistry with good players. You just need to talk a couple times about some things and go on the ice and play."
Blues @ Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 OT - Thursday, February 09, 2017
Vladimir Tarasenko scored 20 seconds into overtime to give the Blues a 2-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Jake Allen made 31 saves to help St. Louis (28-22-5) win its third consecutive game and improve to 4-1-0 since Mike Yeo took over as head coach. The Blues controlled play for much of the first period, outshooting Toronto 17-4. The Maple Leafs' only scoring chance came at 1:28 when defenseman Connor Carrick hit the post with a shot from the right faceoff dot. Patrik Berglund put St. Louis up 1-0 at 4:15 of the first period when he sent a wrist shot from the slot over the glove of Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen, who made 38 saves. It was Berglund's 14th goal of the season. Toronto (25-17-11) tied the game at 1-1 when defenseman Morgan Rielly scored his second goal of the season at 18:56 of the second period. The Blues, who had shutouts the past two games, had not allowed a goal in 159:14. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had a chance to break the tie on a breakaway at 10:10 of the third period after coming out of the penalty box but fired a shot over the net.
* Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri got around Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson and took a shot that was stopped by Allen. Forward William Nylander tapped the puck free at the top of the goal crease and Rielly put the rebound by Allen who was out of position after making the initial save.
* Andersen stopped Blues forward Magnus Paajarvi as he cut to the net and tried to jam the puck in. After a scramble led to Andersen losing his footing, he gloved a point shot from defenseman Colton Parayko while lying on his side at 18:23 of the first period.
* At 19:57 of the third period, Allen stopped Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov and Kadri who were trying to jam the puck in at the top of the goal crease. Though the puck ended up in the net, the referee ruled that the whistle had been blown prior to the puck crossing the goal line.
* Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak won 13 of 19 faceoffs (68 percent).
* Maple Leafs forward Nikita Soshnikov did not dress because of an upper-body injury. Forward Josh Leivo replaced him. It was his first game since Jan. 7 when the Maple Leafs lost 5-3 to the Montreal Canadiens. … Blues forward Paul Stastny was hobbled after a collision with Kadri on his first shift of the second period. He initially remained on the bench but went to the dressing room midway through the period. Yeo did not have an update on his status.
"Four on four was nice but three on three is more space, more space to create something, and I think more fun. I don't think it's a lot of fun for coaches though."
"I don't like to talk about myself but it's a really important win for us. It especially changes what we had before [our position in the standings] a couple of weeks ago. We just try to fight for each other and try to win every game. It was a really big test for us. We knew before it wasn't going to be a 5-1 game against them like it was at home. We just beat a really good team." Tarasenko said.
"Too bad it wasn't three on three all the time. [Tarasenko's] pretty dangerous; especially if there's only three guys on the ice and he gets a chance to shoot the puck inside the dots there. He just does his thing. He's a special player." Allen said.
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