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Steen Leads Blues Past Bolts |
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The Blues leave Tampa with a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Alexander Steen was easily tonight's first star of the game. He was dominant offensively, scoring once and adding two assists.
The Blues got to Ben Bishop tonight, scoring twice in the first period, and then three times in the second period. Bishop didn't come back out on the ice after the second period, as rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy took over in net, and stopped all nine shots he faced.
T.J. Oshie, Dmitrij Jaskin, Alexander Steen, David Backes, and Paul Stastny all scored for the Blues on Bishop, while Vladimir Tarasenko potted an empty net goal to end the scoring for the Blues.
Tyler Johnson, Brett Connolly, and Steve Stamkos would score for Tampa, but it wouldn't be enough, as Brian Elliott stopped 23-of-26 shots on goal.
The Blues dominated at times tonight, including basically all of the first period, and there were some really nice plays made. Steen's pass to Oshie to open the scoring and Steen's pass to Jaskin on the second goal were really beautiful. The play of the game though had to be David Backes goal.
Backes dumped the puck all the way down the ice on a set play. The play would have resulted in an icing, but Oshie was flying into the zone, and got to the puck before anyone else. Oshie skated behind the net, fed a no look, between the legs pass to Backes, who rifled one past Bishop.
The Blues let off the gas a bit in the second half of the game, but they held on and earned the two points against the Lightning. The Blues are off for the next two days before getting back at it against the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
Ken Hitchcock has passed Dick Irvin in wins, and is now fourth all time with 693 wins from behind the bench.
Steen is currently sitting second on the Blues in points, with 48 points in 53 games.
The Blues have six players with 10 or more goals this season, Tarasenko (29), Steen (19), Backes (19), Schwartz (19), Oshie (15), and Stastny (11). By the end of the season, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tarasenko with 40 goals, Steen, Backes, and Schwartz between 25-30 goals, Oshie hitting 20, and Stastny finish close to 20.
I'd also expect Dmitrij Jaskin, who currently sits at 8 goals, finish with at least 15 before the season ends.
Lets talk about Dmitrij Jaskin, how good has this kid been on the third line. He's physical, he's skilled, and he's really solidified a roster spot on the Blues. Jaskin has played in 28 games this season, scoring eight goals, adding four assists for 12 points. Over 82 games, he's scoring at nearly a 25 goal pace. If he is scratched, at any time for the duration of the season, for Joakim Lindstrom, Hitch should be fired.
Lindstrom, who is ten years older than Jaskin, has less points than Jaskin has goals, in six more games played. Lindstrom is on pace to score seven goals over an 82 games season. Meanwhile, he's weaker than Jaskin, worse defensively, and has a lower hockey IQ. I think the Lindstrom experiment has truly failed, and Armstrong needs to try and send him elsewhere before the trade deadline. At this point, I'd rather play a Colin Fraser or Phil McRae over Lindstrom on a nightly basis.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
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