ST.
LOUIS – Urgency
and desperation. Desperation and urgency.
Any
way you twist the words, they fit into a common place for the St.
Louis Blues, and it came together in the third period with the most
complete act of desperation of the season.
The
Blues rallied for three goals in the final 20 minutes, with Matthew
Kessel providing what turned out to be the game-winner in a 4-3 win
against the Ottawa Senators at Enterprise Center on Friday.
The
Blues (8-10-7), who trailed 2-1 entering the third period, were 0-8-1
on the season when trailing entering the final 20 minutes; the
Senators (12-8-4) were 7-1-1 when leading. Things didn’t look good.
But
along with Kessel, Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich scored
third-period goals, and Oskar Sundqvist scored his first of the
season, and Jordan Binnington made 25 saves.
It
was just the Blues’ second win the past eight games (2-2-4) but
they have points in six of eight and have now scored first in nine of the past 10 games; they didn't give it up this time around and improved to 6-4-6 when doing so.
Here
are Friday’s observations:
*
Third period of the season – Let’s face it, this game was a dud
for the longest.
Things
got a bit spicy when Sundqvist finally scored, but when the Blues
fell behind 2-1 late in the second period on a Fabian Zetterlund goal
at 18:26, it felt like a repetitive theme of late for this squad.
But
things changed, play changed. Desperation set in.
Kyrou’s
team-leading seventh of the season came off a beautiful read and
ensuing seam pass from Jake Neighbours into the slot, and Kyrou did
the rest pulling it to his backhand and scooping it up over Leevi
Merilainen at 2:01 for a 2-2 game:
“It
was just great patience by (Neighbours),” Kyrou said. “Kind of
hold it and wait for the lane to open up. It was a helluva pass.”
Buchnevich’s
first goal in 17 games and first even-strength goal of the season put
the Blues ahead 3-2 at 5:33 off a 2-on-1 pass from Brayden Schenn and
ensuing one-timer inside the right post:
“Every
goal feels good,” Buchnevich said, “especially now, it’s hard
to score a goal. … I
know 100 percent (Schenn) is going to give it to me. He doesn’t
look at the net. He (had) a tough time to score before, I got a tough
time to score (now). It’s an easy read, I know he’s a helluva
player. I know he wants to make a pass.”
There
was a comprehensive sigh of relief from the veteran forward, and the
crowd was in appreciation that they showered Buchnevich with chants
of, ‘BUUUUCH’ after the goal.
“(Felt)
good,”
Buchnevich
said.
“Hopefully they don't go through what I've been (through) and don't
sit in a cold tub that long. I'm thankful for the support. They
support us so well. Even after a tough second period, they get us
going.”
Even
after old friend David Perron tied the game 3-3 after Colton Parayko
flubbed a puck trying to rim it around the boards and it bounded to
the slot for a backhand finish at 7:31, the Blues marched back and
grabbed the lead for good when Kessel backhanded
a shot from the crease in following a series of opportunities at the
net by the Blues at 9:19:
So
the Blues had a lead, and this time, instead of just trying to sit on
it, they played with a purpose. They played with … urgency.
“I
think we showed the most desperation of the year so far,” Blues
coach Jim Montgomery said. “The one thing you love about playing in
St. Louis and being part of the Blues is how the fans react to
desperation (and)
to
hard work, second- and third-effort. The third period’s the best
we’ve done it all year and that’s why we got three goals. We got
three goals because we were desperate and we didn’t give up a goal
at the end because we were desperate defensively.”
So
where did that desperation come from?
“I
got to say it's because of our leaders,” Montgomery
said.
‘Schenn's line started the period off right. The Sundqvist line
always plays with desperation, that's why they probably have the most
5-on-5
goals of our team. Then the (Robert)
Thomas
line followed up and they made a great play off the rush. That's how
you build momentum. When you talk about team building, shift after
shift, every line won a battle and it culminated after three shifts
with a tying goal.”
*
The fourth line continues to generate – They’re supposed to be
the energy line, the one that goes out and sets the scorers up with
good ice and generate a buzz with physicality, grit, forechecking,
responsible defensively and just plain, hard work.
But
once again, they unlocked a gridlock when the game didn’t generate
much and Sundqvist opened the door to the scoring when he banked in a
shot from the side of the net off Merilainen at 7:59 of the second
period to make it 1-0:
Nathan
Walker had the puck along the right side, saw Mathieu Joseph driving
the net and steered a backhand there that Joseph redirected.
Sundqvist wound up collecting the loose puck and from just below the
goal line made a play to put it in off the goalie.
It
doesn’t have to be pretty. Just effective.
“I
can’t score when I’m in front of the goal, so I might as well try
from behind the goal, I guess,” Sundqvist joked. “Great play by
‘Mojo’ and ‘Walks.’ I kind of saw him being out of position
and tried to just bank it off him. Happy it worked out”
But
the line just keeps making things happen. Why?
“I
think it’s just playing north, playing simple. I think for our
line, our biggest strength is the forechecking, getting pucks back
that way. We’re not going to dangle three, four guys. We’re
getting on forechecking and getting pucks back, attack the net. It’s
been feeling good lately.”
Montgomery
said, “Yeah,
it is that simple. They are just playing north, but they're extremely
connected. They're 15-20 feet apart from each other instead of being
85 feet apart from each other, hoping to put pucks through two people
to get a breakaway. They're coming, they're slashing, they're
chipping it off
the
wall, playing north and they've got support. Then they go low to
high, D-men pound the puck and they've got two on the inside. That
goal they scored today, they put a puck to the net, they got a
strong-side drive and a weakside drive and they end up putting it in
from the goal line. That's Sundqvist, how clever of a hockey player
he is.”
*
Buchnevich’s Uber driver broke the streak – Buchnevich hasn’t
scored an even-strength goal in the regular season since the final
game last season against the Utah Mammoth (25 games) on April 15,
2025, and it was his first goal this season in 17 games (Oct. 25
against the Detroit Red Wings), but there was a logical reason on
Friday why this streak was broken: he had a driver to the game.
It
was Oskar Sundqvist.
Why?
Buchnevich’s
billet parents are in town and needed a car, so Buchnevich left them
his, and hitched a ride with Sundqvist.
“I
drove him today, I think I drove him to the rink twice last year and
he scored both games,” Sundqvist
said.
“I'm 3-for-3 with driving him to the rink. I'm going to see if I'm
going to have to keep driving him to the games.”
Buchnevich
was doing his media interview and Sundqvist comes by and offers, “I
can't wait for my Uber tip.”
Buchnevich
replied, “You're
driving me tomorrow too!”
Maybe
there’s something to it, maybe not. Whatever works, right?
*
Blues make good on the 5-on-6 – It’s a broken record talking
about the Blues’ deficiencies defending the sixth attacker last
year. We all know the results, in the regular season and in the Game
7 playoff game against the Winnipeg Jets.
The
Senators came with a hard, aggressive push. They pulled Merilainen
with 2:47 remaining in the third period and the Senators generated 10
shot attempts. Five were on goal and five were blocked.
But
the blocks, or many of them, were a result of guys diving to the ice
to make plays, guys sacrificing bodies to keep the opposition and
pucks away from Binnington, who did his part and made the saves.
But
it’s easy and motivating to play like that when the team generated
the quality chances and got rewarded for the 5-on-5 goals.
“I
mean, the third period, the desperation that got us three goals, I
think it's the most 5-on-5
goals we've had in a period this year,” Montgomery
said.
“That's the catalyst that we need to carry on if we want to get on
a roll, and we're going to get on a roll. That's the kind of game
when you come from behind, your crowd is going nuts, you've got
another game tomorrow night in front of the same crowd, it's time for
us to show the desperation and just keep building on this. And it
starts right from the first puck drop.
“Rinse,
repeat, remember how you did it. We're going to show video on how we
did and we're going to go out and execute it with the effort and
emotion that you need to have the desperation like that.”
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
