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 On Tuesday night, however, it was Lehtera's turn to be the star.
Lehtera, playing his 14th game in the NHL, recorded the first
natural hat trick by a member of the St. Louis Blues since
defenseman Al MacInnis on Oct. 12, 1998, in leading the Blues to a
6-1 win over the struggling Buffalo Sabres.
He scored once in the first period and twice in the second, the
first two goals coming off drop passes from Tarasenko, who has now
scored five goals and added five assists in his last six games.
"I'm used to passing but now I scored three," Lehtera said. "I don't
know what happened. Those were like the Soviet Union-style passes he
gave me. With him he can do whatever. I'm going to go there whenever
he has the puck because anything can happen. He wanted me to score
today."
Lehtera, who was drafted by the Blues in 2008 but didn't sign until
July 1 this year, completed the hat trick with a short-handed goal
off a perfect feed from left winger Jaden Schwartz to give the Blues
a 3-0 lead en route to their eighth win in their last nine games.
The line of Tarasenko, Lehtera and Schwartz led the way, scoring 21
of the Blues 39 goals this season, including 14 of the last 21.
The Blues recorded three hat tricks in the first 15 games of the
season, one each from Tarasenko, Lehtera and Schwartz, although
Schwartz was playing on a different line at the time.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock has been worried in the past that the
Blues were relying too much on that one line for their offense, but
he is still happy with how those three are playing.
"They had success because they have skill but they really played the
right way," Hitchcock said. "When you play the right way, and have
that level of skill, it's a good thing. The three goals were all
plays that they had forced the opposition into turning and having to
face the goalie so they lost coverage. That's the part I'm happiest
about.
"The goals come and go but when you play the right way, like that,
it was gratifying for us because they are creating offense doing the
things that we are trying to ingrain into the whole group here."
The Blues did finally get three goals from other players, in the
final 3:22 of the game, two by left winger Joakim Lindstrom, after
Sabres' left winger Nicolas Deslauriers was assessed a major penalty
and a match penalty for spearing Tarasenko. The other goal came from
center David Backes.
Lindstrom, like Hitchcock, is happy to see what the combination of
Tarasenko, Lehtera and Schwartz is doing, but he knows the team
cannot continue to expect that kind of production every night.
"They're leading us right now, and competing hard, and they are
great to watch," he said. "In the long run we need all of us in here
to contribute and not just rely on them but they have been playing
great."
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The Sabres, on the other hand, have not been playing great. They
lost their fourth consecutive game and fell to 3-12-2 on the season,
the worst record in the league.
The only Buffalo goal came on a power-play 59 seconds into the third
period by center Tyler Ennis. It was only the third goal the Sabres
have scored this season in 52 man-advantage opportunities.
They out-shot the Blues 15-10 in the first period, but still failed
to score during the opening period for the 13th consecutive game.
"It's one of those things, the way we started was probably one of
the best periods that we played so far this season," said Sabres
coach Ted Nolan. "There were some real bright signs. ... I thought
we had our moments. We're still learning and we're still growing."
It was the 11th time this season the Sabres have either been shut
out or failed to score more than one goal. They have scored the
fewest goals in the NHL.
"It's part of growing, we've got to stick with it no matter what's
going on," said right winger Brian Gionta. "We're a team that needs
confidence early on and we've got to find ways to get it behind the
goalie."
NOTES: RW Ryan Reaves was not able to play for the Blues after he
was hit on the ankle by a shot during practice on Monday. RW Magnus
Paajarvi took his spot in the lineup. ... RW T.J. Oshie skated at
the Blues practice Monday and Tuesday but has not been cleared for
contact and coach Ken Hitchcock said there is no timetable on when
he will be able to play as he recovers from a concussion. ... RW
Chris Stewart, who was traded by the Blues to Buffalo last February
in the deal for G Ryan Miller, played his first game against his
former team. ... LW Magnus Foligno returned to the Sabres' lineup
after missing the last four games because of an upper-body injury.
... The Sabres play in Minnesota on Thursday night while the Blues
host Nashville the same night for the second time in five days.
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reserved.]
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