Follow me on twitter Follow @stlgoalie

The Blues completed their three game western Canada road trip with a 4-3 overtime win against the Canucks, going 2-1 on the trip.

Brock Boeser opened the scoring midway through the 1st period with a screened shot from the low slot. The goal is a direct result of Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko both puck chasing and attempting to cover the same man in the corner, getting neither the puck nor the passing lane.

Parayko would get the goal back with under 2 minutes left in the period with a blast from the right slot. It’s hard to believe but it was Parayko’s first goal at even strength in over 100 games. Watch it here.

About 5 minutes into the 2nd period, Markus Granlund scored a shorthanded goal on a 3 on 1 rush. Jake Allen was put in a bad spot on the play but committed very early on the play. It’s hard to be patient in these situations but it’s really your only chance in making the save. Regardless, you cannot allow a 3 on 1 on the power play.

Just under midway through the 2nd period, Sven Baertschi scored on the power play. On the play, Allen misplays a shot from the left circle, leaving a dangerous rebound that Baertschi puts between his legs. Pay particular attention to the video around the 30 second mark here. The primary cause of the goal is the poor control of the original shot but the immediate sequence after illustrates something I have been noticing in his games lately. As soon as the shot comes off him, ideally he would close his legs into proper butterfly position while searching for the puck. Instead, he searches for the puck with his legs still open, can’t find it and Baertschi slides the puck through his open legs. On this play, I’d want my goalie to play the percentages and tighten up his butterfly while searching for the puck rather than waiting until after he finds it.

About 2 minutes later, Vladimir Sobotka pulls the Blues back to within one goal with a goal from the left circle. The key to the play is the pinch in the zone along the wall by Vince Dunn. Watch the play here.

Joel Edmundson tied the game around 5 minutes into the 3rd period with his 6th goal of the season with a one-timer from the right circle. Watch the play here.

Midway through overtime, Schenn basically went 1 on 3 against the Canucks and scored from the mid slot. Watch the move and his shot here.

Allen’s feast or famine trend continued with an 87% save percentage though the Blues till feasted in large part due to their 12.9% shooting percentage.

Tonight the Blues open their 5 game home stand against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers will be trying to avenge their 4-1 Thursday loss against the Blues in Edmonton. The Oilers are in their 2nd game of a 5 game road trip having dropped the 1st game on Saturday by a score of 6-3 to Dallas.

The Oilers have lost 2 in a row and are only 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. They are 3-4-2 on the road this season. Edmonton’s struggles this season can be traced to their lack of goal scoring (27thin the league). They are slightly better at goal prevention, sitting 23rd in goals against per game. Their brightest spot has been their power play which is ranked 11tt while their penalty kill is 3rd worst in the league.

Connor McDavid of course leads the Oilers with 10 goals and 25 points in 20 games. Leon Draisaitl has 14 points in 16 games and Ryan Nugent Hopkins has 15 points in 20 games.

For the Blues, Jay Bouwmeester will take the ice for the first time this season with Carl Gunnarsson being a healthy scratch.

With Bouwmeester back, the lines should like this:

Forwards
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Sobotka – Paul Stastny - Alexander Steen
Magnus Paajarvi – Oskar Sundqvist – Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak – Chris Thorburn

Defense
Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo

Goalie
Jake Allen

It’s a great day for hockey.

Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers Nashville Predator's Paul McCann, Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others will donate in their name.

Join the Discussion: » 18 Comments » Post New Comment

» There is no quit in these Blues

» Helter Skelter Game 3

» Blues play a stronger game two and keys to game three

» Blues play weak in Game One

» Often less is more at the trade deadline