Blues Bounce Back With 6-1 Win Over Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche vs St. Louis Blues - Game 56 Recap
Goals: Schenn (22, 23), Barbashev (3), Brodziak (8), Pietrangelo (9) and Stastny (12)
Record 33-20-3

My thoughts on the game

• First of all, I attended this game. I didn't sit in my usual seats 27 rows from the ice. I bought a ticket down close and sat 3 rows over the shoulder of Kelly Chase and Darren Pang. My biggest takeaway from being so close was how fast things move and how little space there is out there on the ice.
• For these guys to skate as fast as they do, move the puck around the way they do and manage to put it in the net with a guy defending with giant pads on is totally amazing! To borrow a line from the PGA Tour commercials, "These guys are good!"
• To the game...3 seconds in, Brayden Schenn dropped the gloves and went at it with Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog. I was down there at center ice watching during pre-game and taking some photos. Schenn came over and was chatting with Panger and he said something to one of the Colorado players, but I didn't pay attention to who it was.

  

  Photo by: Tim Hirsch

  I'm not sure if this fight was due to something that was said there or something that carried over from the last time Colorado was in town a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was just to get guys fired up. Whatever the reason, it definitely raised the level of emotion in the building right off the hop.
• Both guys got 5 minutes for fighting. Schenn wasted no time after he escaped the penalty box, scoring a power play goal 3:38 seconds later at the 8:41 mark to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. 
• The play started with Dunn's pass to Schwartz who one-timed it on goal. The pad save bounced out in front and Schenn was there to put it in the net. It was his 300th career NHL point. 
• Colorado tied the game 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the 2nd period on an unassisted goal by Gabriel Borque. Side note: He's in his 2nd season with the Avalanche but his profile picture on the NHL app still has him in a Predators jersey. The goal came when Vladi Sobotka mishandled a puck and turned it over at his own blue line. Borque skated in alone on Hutton and beat him with a wrist shot high on the blocker side.
• The Blues didn't lay down and die, though.  In fact, they added 4 more goals in the 2nd period to take a 5-1 lead into the 2nd intermission. 
• Barbashev scored his 3rd goal of the season at the 4:17 mark on a shot from the left wall, below the face off dot at an unlikely angle. His shot hit the goalie in the shoulder and bounced in, just under the crossbar. Parayko and Upshall assisted on the goal.
• The goal ignited the Blues offense as they were like sharks who smelled blood in the water. Schenn added his 2nd goal on the night just 48 seconds later, and Kyle Brodziak added another 2 minutes and 33 seconds later. Pietrangelo's goal at the 15:01 mark finished off the 2nd period onslaught and was a beautiful 'one-timer' after a perfect pass from Vince Dunn. 
• Dunn had 3 assists on the night. The rookie defenseman is proving to be one heck of a hockey player! 
• The scoring was capped off by a Stastny goal at the 6 minute mark of the third period and it was a goal that just came from some gritty, hard work in front of the net. It's something that's been missing most of the season and it was great to see. Steen and Stastny were both in front causing havoc and when the rebound came off, Tarasenko was fighting to get to it as well.
• 13 different Blues notched points in this game. Vladi Tarasenko was not one of them, but I thought his effort was there last night. He stepped in and was whistled for roughing when someone took a hard shot at a teammate. I know he wants to score goals, but it's good to see him doing some of the little things that help win hockey games too.
• Joel Edmundson left the game in the first period after taking a puck off the forearm. The Blues announced that it was broken. He had successful surgery and will be reevaluated in 6 weeks. Given that time frame, he will miss around 15 games and will return about 2 weeks before the end of the regular season. The Blues have called up St. Louis native, Chris Butler from the San Antonio Rampage to fill the roster spot. Butler has 8 goals and 15 assists in 47 games with the Rampage this season.
• Looking at the stat sheet, St. Louis dominated this game. 
• They only allowed 24 shots on goal. Carter Hutton stopped 23 of those and improved his record to 15-5-1. 
• The won 63% of the faceoffs.
• Power play was 1 for 2. 
• Penalty kill was perfect, killing off all 5.
• They had 14 takeaways, compared to Colorado's 3. 
• It was a solid performance. Let's hope they can repeat that tonight in Winnipeg against the Division-leading Jets. 
• The Jets are led by Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifle, who will return to the lineup after being out since Dec 27th with an upper body injury.
• Winnipeg sits tied in points for the Central Division lead with Nashville at 73 points. They have 2 games in hand on the Blues, so these are valuable points at stake tonight.

#AllTogetherNowStL #LGB