|
 Some of the players arrived for Monday night's game against the
Arizona Coyotes unaware that their captain, David Backes, was their
latest injury victim and would not be able to play the last three
games of the regular season. Goalie Jake Allen is out again as well.
"It just seems to be what our season's been about," coach Ken
Hitchcock said before the game. "We just need to step up. This team
has overcome so much of this ... we'll be fine."
It took a period before the Blues could get their game untracked
against the Coyotes, trailing 2-0 before reeling off five unanswered
goals, four in the third period, to post a 5-2 win that pulled them
into a first-place tie with the Dallas Stars in the Central
Division.
Each team has two games to play, on Thursday and Saturday. If they
finish the year tied, the Stars would win the division in a
tiebreaker.
Kyle Brodziak scored twice in the final period, including his third
shorthanded goal of the year to tie the game, and Vladimir Tarasenko
scored one goal and assisted on another as the Blues also opened a
six-point lead over the third-place Blackhawks.
"It's a credit to everybody," Brodziak said. "Everybody the whole
year has had a really good focus of not getting caught up in any
negative stuff. We've stuck together and found a way to battle
through things. It's a testament to everyone in the room."
The Blues got a power-play goal from Troy Brouwer in the second
period to cut Arizona's lead to 2-1 before the third-period
onslaught, which also included another power-play goal from Patrik
Berglund.
Berglund is just one of several Blues players who have missed
significant time with injuries this season, a list that also
includes Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen and Paul Stastny.
"It's character," said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who had two
assists. "I don't think we've played a game yet with our full
lineup. It just goes to show what we are capable of when we have
everybody back."
After Brodziak's shorthanded goal tied the game, Tarasenko broke the
tie with an unassisted goal, his 37th of the year, equaling his
career high. He then added his 34th assist on Berglund's goal.
"We have a lot at stake right now," said goalie Brian Elliott.
"These next two games are going to be big. It always seems to come
down to the last games no matter what."
[to top of second column] |
The Blues have won seven of their last eight games and extended
their winning streak to eight in a row over the Coyotes. Over the
last four seasons, they are 11-0-1 against Arizona.
The Coyotes, eliminated from the playoffs, got the early lead on
goals from Antoine Vermette and Anthony Duclair but could maintain
that momentum.
"We weren't able to get back into the momentum of the game," said
Alex Tanguay. "You can't lose momentum and you can't give a team
energy. That's what we did tonight. It's frustrating."
Duclair, whose goal was his 20th of the season, saw the same
problem.
"They were better than us," Duclair said. "We were flat after the
first. We came out fine and we played our game but I don't know if
we thought it was going to be easier but we definitely got away from
the things we were doing right after the first period."
NOTES: G Jake Allen and RW David Backes were both injured in the
Blues' game Sunday night at Colorado and will miss the final games
in the regular season this week. The team said both are dealing with
lower-body injuries and will be re-evaluated before the playoffs.
... Backes' injury leaves RW Troy Brouwer as the only St. Louis
player who has appeared in every game this season. ... The Blues
hope that three other injured players, LW Robby Fabbri (left leg),
RW Steve Ott (hamstring) and D Jay Bouwmeester (possible
concussion), will be ready to play Thursday night in Chicago. ...
The Coyotes played without C Martin Hanzal (upper body) and D
Nicklas Grossmann, whose wife is having a baby. ... The Coyotes,
ending the year on a four-game trip, play Tuesday night in Chicago.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
