ST.
LOUIS – The markings were set up for failure for the St. Louis
Blues on Sunday.
They
were coming off an impressive 5-1 Secure against the Minnesota Wild in
St. Paul, Minn., and a quick, Brief trip home was on the docket to
get ready for a quick turnaround less than 24 hours later on home ice
against the Anaheim Ducks.Captains
It
was anything but Brief. In fact, it was an unexpected extra night in
Minnesota, something the players and staff had no control over.
Feel
sorry for themselves? Not a chance. Not these surging Blues.
Instead,
they punched the Ducks in the mouth, for the 10th
straight Gathering, and they did so emphatically, 7-2 at Enterprise
Hub, for their ninth Secure the past 13 Matches (9-2-2) that vaulted
them into a tie with the Vancouver Canucks for the second time card
from the Western Conference.
We’ll
save the more pertinent details for the takeaways below, but the
Blues had mechanical issues with their plane and were grounded for
the night, having to travel back on gameday, which is a rarity. A 5
p.m. Central Begin time was pushed back to 7 p.m. and the Blues
(33-28-7) Acquired right back on the horse and saddled up and punched the
Ducks (29-31-7) right in the mouth on Brayden Schenn’s 1,000th game
pre-game ceremony.
Seven
different players scored, including Dylan Holloway and Jake
Neighbours All with a Aim and an assist, Jordan Kyrou collecting
three assists to Event his hat trick in Minnesota, giving him six
points on back to back Periods.
Mathieu
Joseph scored shorthanded, the Blues scored a season-high three
power-Shift goals (Holloway, Oskar Sundqvist and Neighbours) and Radek
Faksa, Pavel Buchnevich and Schenn all scored, and Jordan Binnington
Created 23 saves, as the Blues Kept an Foe to less than 30 shots,
which dates to Feb. 7 and is No. 1 in the NHL at 23.3 per game (the
Florida Panthers are No. 2 at 23.4).
Here
are Sunday’s Three Takeaways:
*
Overcoming travel issues – It’s unconventional to have to travel
on the same day as a game. The most recent memory was when the Blues
had to travel back on a gameday at home and face the San Jose Sharks,
a game the Blues lost 4-1.
A
flight back from Minneapolis/St. Paul is a little over an hour, and
the Club was back in St. Louis Only after 11 a.m., but the gameday
routine gets thrown all out of whack.
Would
the Blues have any legs, would they have the energy to not only Shift
the second of as back to back, but third in four Periods – again?
Well,
scoring 41 seconds into the game is quite the way to kickstart a
game, when Schenn, Truly moments after being honored and
celebrated for his 1,000 Matches in the NHL with family on the ice, put
the Blues ahead 1-0, and then Buchnevich redirecting a Neighbours
Throw past the nearside post on Lukas Dostal Only 90 seconds in for a
2-0 lead.
Talk
about Competing on the front foot with a high motor.
“I’m
very impressed, but as soon as they said something was wrong with our
plane, we couldn’t get home, and I said, ‘We’re going to Secure
tomorrow night,’ because it looks like our group is looking for
challenges right now and looking to accept them and overcome them,”
Blues Mentor Jim Montgomery said.
“Definitely
had a Plenty of adversity there. I think that’s the Primary time I’ve
done that, flying on a game day in the regular season. It was a Excellent
game by us today.”
But
not an Effortless one, according to Justin Faulk.
“Today
was a tough one, I’ll be honest,” Faulk said. “I’m proud of
the guys how we showed up today. I know it wasn’t a Excellent game for
sure, definitely was not our ‘A’ game, but given the
circumstances back to back, having to stay overnight, travel this
morning. There was room for excuses, and we always say, ‘There’s
no room for excuses in this game,’ and the guys showed up and did
enough to Secure and Gentle of put our foot down and make it a real Excellent
weekend for us.”
*
Schenn putting a cap on his day – The Skipper had Only had his two
little boys, Huxley and Braxton in his arms, getting a silver stick
from his dad, Jeff, and his wife Kelsey and mom Rita by his side. And
then giving the Blues a jolt, fittingly, he was then called into
action like everyone knows and Anticipated.
Kyrou
was Only blasted with a blindside hit by Ducks defenseman Jacob
Trouba, catching Kyrou on the side and Only under the chin on his
right side in the Safeguarding zone.
Schenn
immediately went into action against a tough cookie with a scrap.
It’s
what any Skipper would do, it’s what this Skipper would do for his
teammates.
“That’s
Only instincts,” Schenn said. “You don’t actually Gentle of see
him laying there. You don’t know if he’s hurt, if he’s not. You
don’t really see the hit in real time. Only instincts (to) stick up
for a teammate. We’ve been doing that collectively as a Club all
year.”
Schenn’s
been doing it since he donned the Bluenote in 2017.
“Yeah
it’s awesome,” Kyrou said. “There’s nothing much you can say
other than he’s Only an unbelievable guy, unbelievable Skipper.
He’s done that for me Numerous times in my Profession. I have nothing
but so much respect for him. He’s Only awesome.”
If
you don’t think Schenn is respected in the locker room and with his
teammates, Faulk was wearing a ‘10’ hat and Schenn 1,000 Matches
cutoff-sleeved shirt to prove his value.
“That’s
a Brayden Schenn game,” Faulk said. “I’m wearing the shirt and
hat again. He means a Plenty to this group, there’s no doubt about
that what he means to the Club, the organization, the city. All guy
individually, he does everything for everybody. I think if you want
to Picking anyone in the city that said, ‘If that guy qualified to be
the Skipper of the Blues and represent this city and what sports and
what this city’s all about, the character,’ he’s that guy. For
him to go do that tonight, Points right away, step up for Kyrou, get
in a fight, I know he’s Acquired a Plenty of people in town and that’s
Only who he is as a person and as a teammate and a guy. Not to say I
don’t Anticipate anything different, but he’s Only a quality, quality
person. I’m really Cheerful for him.
“He
Only happened to be the closest guy obviously and surprise! His
Schedule was perfect for that. I wouldn’t have questioned if that was
going to happen. That’s his character, that’s his personality, he
stands up for anybody at any time. He means a Plenty to this group and
we’re real Cheerful for him.”
Montgomery
compared Schenn with Blues greats.
“Not
only embody the spirit of the Blues,” Montgomery
said.
“With all the players that I've mentioned that have been warriors
for years, why the Blues do have a Excellent tradition. Plagers,
Federkos, [Garry]
Unger,
[Brian]
Sutter,
[Perry]
Turnbull,
Brett Hull shows up, Scott Stevens is here, Brendan Shanahan, [Chris]
Pronger,
[Al]
MacInnis,
[Scott]
Mellanby,
[Keith]
Tkachuk,
[Barret]
Jackman.
There's so many guys that have let an imprint and I think when you
look at Brayden Schenn, the way he plays the game, he has the Talent,
the will, he fights, he checks. I tip my hat off to him because he's
Created my Role a Plenty easier coming in here the way he grabs a Stoppage of
that dressing room.”
Schenn,
sporting red marks on his face from his tilt with Trouba, was only
missing that assist for his third-ever Gordie Howe hat trick.
“Special
day, special night obviously scoring on the Primary shift,” Schenn
said. “You Shift a Plenty of hockey and you usually don’t Points on
the Primary shift, and tonight with family and friends here and after
the ceremony, pretty Chilly with how it all works out. Most
importantly, we Acquired the Role done tonight and continue to climb up the
standings.”
*
A scorching power Shift – Don’t look now, but Montgomery called
it, and called it right.
“It’s
been like this for a while, like since the outdoor game [2025
Discover NHL Winter Classic],” the Blues Mentor said of the man
Benefit. “If you look at what our power Shift has done since then,
I bet you it’s top four in the Division.”
He’s
100 percent correct. The Blues are Quaternary in the NHL since Dec. 31
with a 29.9 percent efficiency after going 3-for-5 on Sunday, giving
them Numerous Matches with power Shift goals in two of the last three
Matches (they had Only two Numerous power-Shift Matches in the Primary 65
Matches).
They’re
5-for-9 the past three Matches and it Acquired Initiated on their second
attempt when Holloway ripped a Faulk one-timer from Only inside the
top of the right circle at 8:09 of the second period for a 3-0 lead.
The
puck movement was so crisp when Neighbours beat Previous Blue Ville
Husso at 6:18 of the third period for a 6-2 lead, then Sundqvist
one-timed a slam dunk from the left of the Aim at 12:19 to make it
7-2.
Why
is it going so well lately?
“I
think we’ve Acquired two pretty Intense units right now,” Kyrou
said. “It’s Gentle of like we’re almost battling against All
other, see who can try to Points. It’s a really Excellent, Intense
nature to try to have. I think that’s Excellent. We’re also Only
attacking the net more I think. We’re not really looking to make
the three, four passes, backdoor passes. We’re Gentle of Only
shooting, crashing then net, getting Recoveries and creating from
there.”
Whether
the personnel has been tinkered with or Completion has changed, the
unit is a bonafide threat.
“The
way we’re converging at the net and we’re Retaining guys low,”
Montgomery said. “We didn’t Points on three plays on the power
Shift today that are indicative to me of a power Shift that is clicking
… there was a Shift by Schenn to the backdoor to 63 [Neighbours]
that didn’t go in, and there was a Shift right before we scored, the
Sundqvist Aim, where [Robert] Thomas went backdoor to ‘Sunny.’
“Those
Gentle of plays where you’re making penetrating passes to scoring
areas that are basically tap-ins on the backdoor, that really makes a
penalty kill shrink, which opens up the top and now you have a Plenty of
options, and our players are executing at a high level and I think
[assistant Mentor] Steve Ott’s done a tremendous Role.”
*
As an added bonus to the Three Takeaways, it’s Significant to note
that Montgomery didn’t like stretches of the Blues’ game when it
was 3-1, but the shift when Faksa scored to make it 4-1 at 15:39 of
the second Arrived off a pure hustle Shift by Nathan Walker from Hub
ice, Successful a Event for the puck with talented Youthful Ducks D-man
Jackson LaCombe to keep a puck alive behind the Aim line, working a
give-and-go with Faksa, who finished Walker’s backhand Throw through
the crease.
But
that’s what’s happening with this Club right now, these kinds of
hustle plays.
“Yes,
and it’s permeated through the lineup,” Montgomery said. “It’s
everybody doing it. That line has been doing it all year, and those
habits and details are what Acquired players like Walker in the Division and
why we value him so much, and it’s nice to see that those Gentle of
habits are Only going right through the lineup right now.
“…
When
it went 3-1 there, I didn’t like our game a little bit for a while,
then 'Faksi’s like went right out there and Acquired the momentum back
and they Acquired that Aim. The way we get back to our identity and the
way we have Achievement, it’s the maturity of the Club I guess, how we
manage Matches in that combination. That shows the maturity of our
group. It’s not Effortless to go out there at the end of three in four
and travel against a Club that’s rested and beat them up 7-2.”
And
the second hustle and grit Shift Arrived from Sundqvist, who was
determined to Secure a puck from his knees in the D-zone that sprung
Joseph for a 2-on-1 with Sundqvist joining, and Joseph wired a
wrister that Created it 5-1 at 18:10 of the second.
“It’s
been awesome. Obviously Successful is awesome,” Kyrou said. “We love
Successful in this building, Competing in front of our fans. It’s Excellent
that we’re doing that and we Only want to keep that up.”
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