The Blues entered the night anxious for goals. After dominating the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday and not being able to score a single goal, they wanted to put the puck in the back of the net.
Playing the Coyotes seemed to do the trick, as they notched six goals against Mike Smith.
The story of the game could have been Jori Lehtera, who picked up his first NHL point, an assist on a Jaden Schwartz goal. He then would score his first NHL goal later in the game.
Yet it would be the "hold out", Jaden Schwartz, who would steal the show. Many worried about Schwartz, who missed 10 days of training camp before signing a new a new deal with the Blues. History has shown that players who hold out and miss time at training camp, usually start slow. However, he put that to shame tonight, as he registered his first career hat trick tonight in front of his parents and some family friends.
Schwartz's first goal came from a lucky bounce off the skate of Coyotes forward David Moss. He showed great patience before roofing the puck high glove on Smith.
His second goal came off a face-off win by Jori Lehtera. Schwartz got the puck and fired the puck high glove again, beating Smith cleanly.
His third goal came on a power play with just three seconds left in the game. Again, Schwartz lifted the puck past the glove of Smith to cap off the hat trick.
Vladimir Tarasenko picked up three assists, a career high in a single game for the young Russian. Both Tarasenko and Schwartz lead the Blues in shots, with seven shots a piece.
The win doesn't come without bad news. Blues forward Paul Stastny left the game after just :31 seconds of playing time, after being hit by Martin Hanzal and Mikkel Boedker on the same shift. The extent of Stastny's injury is unknown, but he was favoring his left arm/wrist and did not return.
The Blues managed to score in all four of the teams power plays tonight, which was impressive considering the Coyotes hadn't allowed any goals on the penalty kill before tonight's game. Backes, Steen, and Schwartz (2) registered the goals with the man advantage.
Jake Allen was superb in tonight's 6-1 victory. The only goal against came from a beautiful pass by Shane Doan, behind the Blues net. Lauri Korpikoski was the recipient of the pass and finished the play by beating Allen, glove side.
Brian Elliott will get the start tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks, and Petteri Lindbohm, who was just recalled by the Blues today, will draw into the line up as well. Jordan Leopold is expected to exit the line up, but that decision will be made by Blues head coach, Ken Hitchcock.
The Blues are playing some great hockey right now and will look to continue their impressive play tomorrow night. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. central time.
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