The Blues took complete advantage of the Buffalo Sabres in a dominate 6-1 victory tonight.
Goals by Jori Lehtera (3), David Backes, and Joakim Lindstrom (2) provided the scoring for the Blues, while Tyler Ennis scored the only goal for the Sabres.
There are many ways you could describe tonight's victory. You could focus on Lehtera's natural hat-trick, or maybe Alexander Steen's first career fight in the first period and an almost second fight in the second period. You could focus on the complete act of goonery from the Sabres, from Weber's "attempt" at snapping Steen's neck, or the disgraceful spear from Nick Deslauriers on Vladimir Tarasenko.
Jori Lehtera scored a goal in the first period, on a beautiful pass by Vladimir Tarasenko. Alex Pietrangelo drew two defenders from the puck, and Michal Neuvirth followed Tarasenko, allowing Lehtera to fire a puck in basically an open net.
The second goal by Lehtera, in the second period, was a beautiful passing play by Lehtera and Tarasenko. Lehtera fed Tarasenko, who gave a slick drop pass to Lehtera, who beat Neuvirth blocker side.
Lehtera finished the hat-trick, shorthanded. Jaden Schwartz blew past the behemoth, Tyler Myers, and waited for Lehtera to get open before feeding him the puck. Lehtera capped off his natural hat-trick in style.
Sportsnet tweeted out this interesting fact just shortly after.
Jori Lehtera is the first #Blues player to record a natural hat trick since Al MacInnis on Oct 12, 1998
— Sportsnet Ticker (@SportsnetTicker) November 12, 2014Tyler Ennis scored for the Sabres on the power play just under a minute into the third period, but that's all Buffalo would score on the night.
A late five minute major on Nick Deslauriers for spearing Tarasenko gave the Blues ample time to really do some damage.
David Backes tipped in a Kevin Shattenkirk point shot to give the Blues a 4-1 lead. Then it was Joakim Lindstrom time to score. Lindstrom came off the bench and received a beautiful pass by Alexander Steen, to put the Blues up 5-1.
Lindstrom would score again just 58 seconds later on a slap-shot from the high slot. Alexander Steen would pick up the primary assist on this goal as well.
It all started with 6:49 remaining in the second period. Ian Cole dumped Tyler Ennis after Ennis put a shot on goal. Cole received a penalty on the play for roughing, which was deserved. While the play wasn't dirty, the hit came late. Neither referee had their hand up to call the penalty, until everyone went after Cole.
Cole would end up fighting Nikita Zadorov, and then Alexander Steen dropped the gloves with Tyler Ennis. This is were the officials blew it. Rule 46.7 of the NHL handbook states;
'Fighting After the Original Altercation - A game misconduct penalty shall be imposed on any player who is assessed a major penalty for fighting after the original altercation has started.'
Both Steen and Ennis should have been ejected from the game at that point, neither player were handed game misconducts, and as the second period started, the result wasn't pretty.
Just 17 seconds into the third period, Nick Foligno went after Alexander Steen, drawing a crowd. Cody McCormick ended up going with Steen, and Steen handled himself just fine. Chris Stewart and Carl Gunnarsson were also going at one another, neither dropped the gloves.
Gunnarsson, Stewart, and McCormick all received two minute minors for roughing. Steen ended up getting four minutes for roughing, while Foligno ended up getting off without a penalty.
The antics by the Sabres didn't stop there. A little over the five minute mark in the third period, Mike Weber went after Steen in front of the Sabres goal, and it ended with him grabbing Steen's head and twisting it in a matter that could have resulted in severe injury. Instead of getting an intent to injure penalty, Weber sat for two minutes for roughing.
The penalties ended with Nick Deslauriers spearing Vladimir Tarasenko. Deslauriers ended up getting a five minute match penalty and a game misconduct.
Now while Buffalo is sitting in last place in the NHL, did anyone expect this sort of dirty play coming into the game? With Ryan Reaves out of the line up, the Blues really didn't have anyone to "protect" the more skilled players. While you'd like to see Steve Ott, Maxim Lapierre, or Chris Porter handling the rough stuff, it was Alexander Steen dealing with the fisticuffs himself. Steen's fight tonight was his first in his NHL career.
Buffalo ended up with 32 penalty minutes in the game, while the Blues had 20. Deslauriers lead the Sabres with 10 penalty minutes, while Steen recorded nine for the Blues.
We've been talking about it most of the season, the 'STL line' is the line to watch out for this season for the Blues. They've dominated the NHL the last six games. In the last six games, the hottest line in hockey has scored 25 total points.
Tarasenko is riding a six game point streak, in which he's recorded five goals and five assists.
On top of that, they've scored 13 of the last 20 goals for the Blues. Tarasenko has eight goals, Lehtera with five, and Schwartz has registered one. Every time they are on the ice, they end up dominating puck control in the offensive zone. The Blues have found themselves a number one line early in the season.
The Blues are back at it Thursday in a rematch against the Nashville Predators, as the Blues try and jump back into first place in the central division. That spot is currently being held by the aforementioned Predators.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank any and all of you who have served in the military in your lives. My friend, Marc Wheeler, attended tonight's game. It was his first game of the season, as he has just returned from Afganistan this past Friday. Marc, thank you for all you have done for this country. To those you've made the ultimate sacrifice, I'm able to write this article freely, and despite it meaning very little to what you've done and have given up, I am very grateful.
As always, you can follow me on twitter @randallritchey.