Thursday night, The Montreal Canadiens took on St. Louis at Enterprise Center. The Blues were coming off of a loss at home to the Stars. They’ll have a chance at revenge when they visit American Airlines Center to face off with the Stars again on Saturday night. Until then, the Blues looked to create momentum against the Canadiens before they hit the road for 4 straight.
Team Records
- Blues: (17-20-4)
- Canadiens: (23-16-5)
Forward Lines
- Schwartz, Schenn, Tarasenko
- Sanford, O’Reilly, Perron
- Fabbri, Thomas, Sundqvist
- MacEachern, Barbashev, Blais
Defensive Pairings
- Gunnarsson, Pietrangelo
- Bouwmeester, Parayko
- Edmundson, Bortuzzo
Starting Goaltenders
STL – Jordan Binnington: (1-0-0, 1.88 GAA, .920 SP)
MTL – Carey Price: (16-12-4, 2.71 GAA, .909 SP)
Goals Scored: Robert Thomas, Oskar Sundqvist, Jay Bouwmeester, Brendan Gallagher, Sammy Blais
Three Stars
- Jordan Binnington
- Oskar Sundqvist
- Jay Bouwmeester
Game Summary
1st Period
The Blues got an early start in this one. 1:14 into the 1st, David Perron was pressuring Carey Price, whacking away at a loose puck in the crease. Shea Weber got a stick up on DP57. Weber went to the box for 2 minutes.
At 1:56, St. Louis would capitalize on the Power Play as Robert Thomas cashed in on a Vladimir Tarasenko rebound to put the Blues up 1-0.
This is the definition of a greasy goal. Rob Thomas knows where and when to go and gets 3 free whacks at the puck. Love it. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/8YWyQLfnlo
— 14th & Clark (@HockeyFeedSTL) January 11, 2019
Robert Thomas left to the locker room at 10:17 after being shoved awkwardly into the boards with speed. He sustained an upper-body injury and would not return.
Not ideal: Robert Thomas is heading to the #stlblues locker room after a nasty run-in with the boards.
Tune in on FSMW and the FOX Sports app. pic.twitter.com/j7JPz5YEBZ
— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) January 11, 2019
Phillip Danault was called for holding Carl Gunnarsson with 8:50 remaining in the period. St. Louis went on their 2nd Power Play. The Blues wouldn’t see success on this one. Danault came out of the box and immediately challenged Jordan Binnington on a breakaway. Binnington calmly made the save.
Joel Edmundson was called for hooking Joel Armia at 13:41. Montreal went on the Power Play but the Blues had an effective kill. Jay Bouwmeester then took a hooking penalty in the offensive zone. This time, the Blues provided more than an effective kill as Oskar Sundqvist received a pass from Ryan O’Reilly and put it past Carey Price to put the Blues up 2-0.
Sunny orders his passes extra saucy. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/vmVTeOr2Nr
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 11, 2019
After 20 minutes, Shots were even at 9. St. Louis won 83% of the faceoffs in the 1st.
Jordan Binnington made some key saves and looked ready to play.
2nd Period
6:04 in, Jay Bouwmeester rushed in behind the defense and scored on Carey Price after receiving a great pass from Robby Fabbri. Good hustle by Bouwmeester and a solid finish as well.
Outstanding pass from Robby Fabbri and a goal scorer’s goal from Jay Bouwmeester. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/slfGmYYux9
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 11, 2019
Robby Fabbri was called for slashing Kenny Agostino at 7:34 and Montreal went on their 3rd Power Play of the game. Brendan Gallagher then capitalized with a puck that bounced off of Alex Pietrangelo‘s skate making it 3-1 Blues.
Brendan Gallagher with the bank shot for a power play goal!
(No really I swear) pic.twitter.com/29nNzlT7Ou
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) January 11, 2019
After 40, Shots were 19-18 in favor of the Blues. St. Louis was winning faceoffs. 82% of the draws belonged to the Blues thus far. Montreal was leading in hits 19-7.
3rd Period
2:32, Artturi Lehkonen was called for hooking Jaden Schwartz and Blues went on their 4th Power Play.
Zach Sanford then hooked Jordie Benn while on the Power Play to make it 4 on 4 for 1:30.
Jordan Binnington made a fantastic save during 4 on 4 play… Blues killed the remaining 30 shorthanded seconds.
Jordan Binnington goes right-to-left to ROB Mete. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/xcwtVymiVg
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) January 11, 2019
Sammy Blais split the defense, headfaked, and scored over Carey Price at 9:19. Oskar Sundqvist registered an assist on the play.
Sammy Blais doesn’t care if @Panger40 is talking… he’ll interrupt him if he wants to. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/WxnfCNNwAy
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 11, 2019
Robert Bortuzzo went to the box for tripping Max Domi with 6:53 remaining. Montreal went on their 5th Power Play of the night. Jordan Binnington made one of his best saves on this particular penalty kill. Joel Edmundson then went for slashing Jonathan Drouin, and the Blues were forced to kill a 5 on 3.
During 4 on 4 play, Jesperi Kotkaniemi went for holding the stick of Colton Parayko. The Blues went on the Power Play for 1:42. The Blues registered 3 shots on the Power Play but did not capitalize.
The Blues won 66% of the faceoffs in this game. They showed a willingness to block shots as well (17).
My Thoughts
- Binnington’s play was absolutely fantastic. If it weren’t for a puck bouncing off of Pietrangelo’s skate, we’re looking at another shutout. He stopped 28 of 29.
- I hated to see Robert Thomas go down. It happens though, and he’ll be back.
- Extremely happy with the play of Oskar Sundqvist. It’s not surprising anymore at all.
- I was very pleased to see Sammy Blais capitalize on his hero, Carey Price.