Another
set of back-to-backs for the St. Louis Blues, and another set of
wins.
The
road trip started with a thud Thursday against the Boston Bruins, but
the Blues followed up a Joel Hofer masterpiece 2-1 win against the
Ottawa Senators on Saturday with another tough one on Sunday.
And
it was Brayden Schenn and Dylan Holloway that hoisted the team on
their shoulders, each collecting three points, with Schenn scoring
twice with an assist – including the game-winner in the third
period – and Holloway adding a goal and two assists as the Blues
took down the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3, at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Pavel
Buchnevich also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 23 saves for the
Blues (11-12–7), who now play five of the next six on home ice
after taking four of six points on this three-game road trip through
the Eastern Conference and scoring more than two goals for just the
second time the past 12 games.
It's the second straight weekend that the Blues have taken both ends of back-to-back games, winning 4-3 against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 28 and 1-0 against the Utah Mammoth on Nov. 29.
Let’s
get to the game observations:
*
Schenn, Holloway delivered with major components out of lineup –
The Blues have already been down three players (Jimmy Snuggerud,
wrist; Alexey Toropchenko, leg burns; and Nathan Walker, upper-body)
and and they’ll have to do without Jordan Kyrou, who departed early
in the first period Saturday with a lower-body injury.
Who
was going to step up for a team already challenged on the offensive
side of the puck?
Each
was instrumental and worked well as a unit with Mathieu Joseph on
their line, combining for seven points.
Schenn
opened the scoring with a power-play goal when old friend Zack Bolduc
was in the box for slashing at 7:59, and Schenn made it count when he
was in the right spot inside the right circle when Holloway worked
the puck off the lefthand boards to the point, and Cam Fowler’s
wrister caromed off Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson right to
Schenn, who made no mistake beating Jakub Dobes at 8:57:
And
the winner by Schenn was crucial, because with the Blues holding a
3-2 lead in the third period, and they were maintaining it well
through the first half of the period, his insurance goal at the time
made it 4-2 with all three linemates having a hand in it.
With
a puck in the neutral zone, Joseph’s hustle play disrupted
Canadiens forward Joe Veleno from getting to the puck, allowing
Holloway to race in, scoop it up and essentially turn it into a mini
2-on-1, feeding Schenn for a one-timer to the near post past Dobes:
It
was critical because the Canadiens would pull to within one late on
Noah Dobson’s goal at 16:15 but the Blues were able to thwart any
chance by the Canadiens to tie, although Cole Caufield had a chance
at the buzzer that was denied by Binnington:
But
with Kyrou down, Schenn and Holloway stepped up big time for an
offense that has obviously been scuffling.
The
entire line worked well together and was a threat on multiple
occasions for the few scoring chances the Blues created, finishing
with only 18 shots on goal.
Schenn,
who has 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 32 career games against
Montreal, had his first three-point game since also scoring twice and
adding an assist Nov. 30, 2023 against the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-4
win.
But
that trio led the way.
Not
only did Holloway have a three-point night, but he also helped save a
goal in the second period when Binnington was without a stick, on
another old friend, Alexandre Texier:
*
Quick strike second – The Blues had to be feeling down a bit after
surrendering the lead late in the first on Caufield’s quick strike
with 57 seconds remaining in the period, the sixth time the Blues
have allowed a goal this season in the final minute of a period to
fall behind 2-1:
It's the sixth time this season the Blues have allowed a goal in the final minute of a period, even getting the attention of Blues great Chris Pronger:
But
they didn’t allow it to affect them, scoring twice in 39 seconds to
take the lead for good.
Holloway
and Schenn combined on the tying goal at 2-2 on a heads-up play by
Colton Parayko springing the two forwards loose with a pass through
the neutral zone after Jayden Struble got caught pinching high,
leaving Lane Hutson to fend the 2-on-1. Schenn fed Holloway, who
pulled it to his backhand and lift it over Dobes 26 seconds into the
period. Holloway got behind Texier on the play.
And
Buchnevich made it 3-2 at 1:05 when the Blues had a good forecheck
and cycle of the puck along the righthand side and wall, with Justin
Faulk getting the puck to Robert Thomas below the goal line and he
found Buchnevich at the top of the crease for the finish:
The Blues (minus-16) and Canadiens (minus-13) each came into the game with two of the worst goal differentials in the second period but winning it 2-0 on those two quick strikes served St. Louis well and enabled them to take the lead into the third period.
*
Binnington follows Hofer’s exceptional outing with a strong one of
his own – He didn’t nearly see as much rubber as Hofer did on
Saturday (42 shots), but Binnington was looking to build off what the
Blues have for the most part been getting from their goaltending
position.
Not
only did he have to be on the spot to deny a Caufield chance at the
horn, but Binnington’s best save was when he kicked out the left
pad to deny Canadiens Russian phenom Ivan Demidov, not once but twice:
Should
the Blues be able to get their goaltending back in a groove, and it’s
been trending in that direction, they will undoubtedly win more
hockey games.
*
Mailloux, Bolduc meet for first time – Since the 1-for-1 trade on
July 1, Blues defenseman Logan Mailloux and Canadiens forward Zack
Bolduc had been waiting for this game from the moment the deal was
made.
Mailloux
was on the ice when Hutson got behind him for the tying goal at 12:20
of the first when it tied the game 1-1, and Bolduc was in the box
when Schenn’s goal initially gave the Blues the lead:
But
Mailloux finished the game an even on the plus-minus, playing 15:35
with two hits and two blocked shots, and Bolduc had an assist on
Huston’s goal and was a plus-1 in 13:21.
Neither
22-year-old hurt their teams on this night, and each had a decent
game. Now, can we put the trade comparisons in the rear view mirror
once and for all?
*
Things got a little hairy late – The Blues were doing a good job protecting
that two-goal lead until the final 3:45 got dicey when Dobson’s
shot from distance made it 4-3.
You
could see Binnington wasn’t thrilled when Faulk skated right
through his line of vision and he lost sight of the shot off the left
hand wall. I don’t get why D-men do that to their goalies in those
situations unless you’re 100 percent certain you’re blocking the
shot. Otherwise, you’re taking away the line of vision of the
goalie, like Faulk did there:
But
the Blues only surrendered three shots and blocked two (Faulk and
Broberg) down the stretch to finish the job.
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