NASHVILLE,
Tenn. -- For much of the game Thursday, it looked like the end of the
winning run for the St. Louis Blues.
They
fooled us again.
And
by extending their winning streak to eight games with an incredible
come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at
Bridgestone Arena, the Blues (39-28-7) found a new way to win.
And
they found that they really can win in any fashion.
Their
goal differential was plus-24 in the first seven games of this
winning streak, but this was different. The Blues fought off a slow
start and overcame a two-goal deficit by scoring twice in the third
period in 19 seconds on goals by Cam Fowler and Dylan Holloway, who
scored twice to extend his point streak to nine games (four goals, 10
assists) and after giving up two goals on his first five shots, Joel
Hofer settled in to make 16 saves and win his fifth straight start.
Through
it all, the Blues remained two points behind the Minnesota Wild for
the first wild card in the Western Conference but moved five points
ahead of the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card and remained
six ahead of the Calgary Flames, who lost 5-2 against the Dallas
Stars on Thursday.
“To
have a comeback win, it wasn’t our best game by any means,”
Holloway said. “We were kind of fighting it a bit early, but I
think that to come back and win a game like that is huge for our
team. That’s how we grow. It’s definitely crucial to know that we
can do that.”
Coach
Jim Montgomery said, “I think we just stuck with it. I thought it
was important. Our first period was just OK and Nashville was
checking really well. They were playing faster than us. The second
period, we needed to win the period and we found a way to get a goal
and then in the third period, we just felt that we hung around and we
were going to prevail. It wasn’t a constant pressure, but we’re
just a confident team that we think we’re going to find a way to
win and we did tonight.”
It’s
the Blues’ longest winning streak since they won nine in a row from
April 2-17, 2022 but first time they were held under four goals. But
all things considered, they’ll gladly take the two points.
Let’s
dive into Thursday’s Three Takeaways:
*
Finally found a forecheck, set play – The Blues trailed 2-1 in the
third period, and it appeared that their winning streak would end.
There
just didn’t seem to be that push that would be necessary to try and
at least even the game up.
Through
the first half of the third, they iced the puck six times and there
just didn’t appear to be that desperate drive needed. They hadn’t
been in this position in a while having to chase a game.
But
for as well as the Predators (27-37-8), who were officially
eliminated from the playoffs Thursday, checked and kept the Blues
from getting to their forecheck, there was a crack.
It
came on Fowler’s goal when the Blues were finally able to establish
some zone time, worked the puck off the wall down low, and when
Brayden Schenn found Jake Neighbours, he was able to find Fowler
driving into the left circle and the defenseman sniped a wrister top
shelf, short side at 11:57 to tie the game 2-2.
“Just
tried to present my stick as an option if he needs it,” Fowler said
of Neighbours. “That’s something we work on as a team and kind of
offensive zone flow and we have to trust if a forward gets back
there, he can get the puck to the net and I can crash for the
rebound, or if he doesn’t like the shot, he can slide it over.
Great play by him. Our whole shift, those guys worked really hard to
get us that opportunity. I was happy to take advantage of it, but
those guys made the whole play and made it happen for me.
“Credit
to them, the first couple periods, they played a really solid game
and didn’t give us much time and space. They were moving pucks fast
and we didn’t get the chance to really establish our forecheck as
we wanted to. It was frustrating for the first couple periods, but we
came in here and tried to regroup in between and support one another.
I thought we came out with a really strong third period and was able
to get a couple big goals there to help us win. It was a great
response by our guys.”
It
was the juice needed, because at 12:19 when Holloway put the Blues
ahead 3-2, it came off an icing and offensive zone face-off, a set
play where Robert Thomas won the face-off to Holloway. He was
supposed to find Jordan Kyrou as an option, but if it wasn’t there,
get the puck to Thomas and enable to crafty center to make a play.
Thomas
tried to find Kyrou from behind the net, but the puck caromed into
the slot, and just like he did on the first goal he scored, Holloway
used his speed to jump the play when the puck got caught in Michael
Bunting’s skates and Holloway stole it and snapped it past Juuse
Saros for the Blues’ first and only lead.
“We
had a face-off play that we were running,” Holloway said. “’Tommer’
was hot on draws. I was supposed to go to to the corner and I get the
puck, ‘Rouz’ was supposed to pop out, I give it low to ‘Tommer’
and then he looks slot. I was kind of rolling. I think he kind of
missed ‘Rou’ and it was in Bunting’s skates and I was able to
fish it out and get a good shot off.”
When
all looked bleak, the Blues found a way, and Montgomery found
something about his players again.
“That
we’re resilient, that the confidence from everything that we’ve
done is now come into the fact that we can win games in a lot of
different fashions,” he said.
*
Holloway goal key – The Blues needed something, anything to spark
them. They had just three shots in the first period and little O-zone
time, and Montgomery said if they can just find something positive in
the second period, with the way the team has been winning and feeling
confident, they would find a way.
Nathan
Walker had a goal waved off earlier in the third period when a quick
whistle blew a play dead – the second time in as many games it’s
happened against Nashville.
But
Holloway made another play. This time, again, hustling to jump into
the neutral zone, disrupt a puck for Michael McCarron, and while
falling down, create a loose puck for Thomas, who darted into the
offensive zone, cut back and fed Holloway for a shot that got through
Saros at 10:35 for a much-needed goal after Nashville had gone ahead
2-0 in the first on goals by Fedor Svechkov at 2:48 and Brady Skjei
at 10:16.
“It
was a neutral zone forecheck,” Holloway said. “As a F-2 there,
you’re supposed to kind of take away the middle option. The guy
went to the middle so I had a step in there. ‘Tommer’ made a
great play, swooped in there, grabbed it. ‘Tommer’ is so good
driving the ‘D’ down low and pulling it so I just tried to get
him the play and he made a helluva pass to me. I was lucky enough for
that one to squeak by.”
*
Thomas/Schenn switch – Montgomery seems to have a pulse for when
making a change, and he’s done so here in the past so many games
when he flips Thomas and Schenn, so Thomas can play with Holloway and
Kyrou, and Schenn goes with Neighbours and Zack Bolduc.
The
Blues hadn’t had much offense, and had just 10 shots on goal
through two periods, but only five through the first 30.
“Really
it’s just looking for a spark,” Montgomery said. “I think we
had five shots on net when I did it. It was 27 minutes into the game.
I was just looking to put ‘Tommer’ with different players and
‘Schenner’ with different players and see if it sparked, and both
lines scored. It worked.
“It’s
just a feel that we’re not playing a normal possession game that we
do and that maybe this will create something to spark, right.”
And
it certainly did.
*
A caveat for the end of the game was the Predators thought they had
scored when Jonathan Marchessault put the puck in at the buzzer for
what appeared to be a 3-3 game, but a quick review showed the puck
was put in after the horn went off.
“I
couldn’t hear anything,” Hofer said. “I was just getting ready
for overtime. I was getting ready for overtime and all the boys came
up to me and told us we won, so it was a good feeling.
“I
knew it was close. I looked up and saw zeroes, but it’s happened to
us a couple times this year with a couple seconds or what not.
Luckily we were on the right side of it tonight.”
“It
was huge. A little adversity for us at the start. We never gave up.
We kept chipping at it. We got one in the second that gave us a
chance in the third. It was a great third period for us. They didn’t
have much. I thought we deserved that one tonight.”
