Vladimir Tarasenko scores his second hat-trick of the season and Jake Allen stands tall to lead the Blues past the Kings, 5-2.
Tarasenko's three goals puts him in second place in the NHL with 20 goals, tied with Rick Nash (NYR), just three behind league leader, Tyler Seguin. His 36 points is now good for fourth in NHL points, behind Evgeni Malkin, Jakub Voracek, and aforementioned Seguin.
The Blues went more than 180 minutes without scoring a goal against Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings. They scored five in just over 30 minutes, three of which coming in a span of two minutes and thirty seconds.
Jake Allen stopped 21-of-23 tonight for the win, coming up with a lot of big saves to keep the game 2-0 or 2-1.
Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Steen also scored for the Blues tonight, while Marian Gaborik scored both goals for the Kings.
Gaborik's first goal came out of a mad scramble in front of Allen. Justin Williams took a shot that snuck through the body of Allen and Chris Porter kicked the puck off the goal line. Gaborik found the loose puck in the crease and tapped the puck in behind Allen.
Gaborik's second goal came off a terrific deflection of an Anze Kopitar shot. The puck just bounced past the blocker of Allen to put the Kings up by two.
Tarasenko got one back for the Blues, as he beat Jonathan Quick high glove side with an absolute rocket of a wrist shot. His ability to get the puck off his stick, as quickly as he does, is truly impeccable.
The third period was all St. Louis, out-shooting the Kings 8-1 in the final period.
The Blues had a 5-on-3 for 1:32, and that's when they took control.
Kevin Shattenkirk took a pass from Tarasenko from behind the goal line and he fired the puck on goal. Jaden Schwartz just got a piece of the puck to beat Quick, just 16 seconds into the 5-on-3.
Tarasenko didn't wait long to break the tie, scoring just 50 seconds later. His wrist shot beat quick between the glove and the pad, to put the Blues ahead 3-2. It seems like every time he has the puck on his stick with a chance to shoot, he's going to put the puck on goal, if not put the puck in the goal.
Alexander Steen kept the momentum going, as he finished off a great passing play by David Backes and Patrik Berglund. Berglund fed Backes, who put the puck on the skate of Steen. Steen showed great puck skills as he kicked the puck up to his stick, and fired the puck past the blocker of Quick, boosting the lead to 4-2.
Tarasenko capped off the hat-trick with an empty net goal, and the hats reigned down from the stands.
Tonight marks the second hat-trick of the season for Vladimir Tarasenko, and we're just 31 games into the season. He has 20 goals in 31 games, we haven't seen that kind of production since the days of Brett Hull. It's been a while since the Blues fans have witnessed a player of Tarasenko's caliber.
Tarasenko scored 21 goals in 64 games last season, and he's one away from that total, in less than half the games. We are witnessing the birth of a star in St. Louis.
David Backes was a force tonight as well. It seemed that every time he was on the ice, he was playing the body. He was credited for eight hits on the night, and that seems low. Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves both registered five hits a piece, and the Blues finished with 31 hits on the night.
T.J. Oshie missed tonight's game, as he's headed back home to attend his aunt's funeral. Keep him, and the entire Oshie family in your thoughts.
The Blues are back at it Thursday against these same Kings, in L.A. The puck drops at 9:30 central time.