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 Elliott, who has started a career-high 16 consecutive games since
Jake Allen was injured on Jan. 8, has been the difference for the
Blues night after night during that stretch and that was the case
again Thursday night.
He stopped 34 of 35 shots by the Los Angeles Kings and was rewarded
with the win on an overtime goal from left winger Jaden Schwartz
1:39 into the extra session which gave the Blues a 2-1 victory.
Elliott has gone 11-3-2 in that 16-game stretch. He has allowed nine
goals total in his last six games, and the Blues won their third
consecutive game by a 2-1 score.
In their last 11 games, the Blues have been held to two or fewer
goals nine times yet have gone 7-2-2 in that stretch because of
Elliott's play in net.
Schwartz scored the winning goal just 29 seconds after Elliott made
a spectacular glove save on left winger Milan Lucic, who was wide
open in front of the Blues' net after defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk
fell down on the play.
"All you are trying to do is play the 2-on-1 honest and I just tried
to get over," Elliott said. "I didn't know if I was there, I kind of
let the body do the work and it ended up in the glove.
"The 3-on-3 mentality is that you have to have one big save to win.
That's what you are trying to do, say this is your opportunity to
make it and then obviously Schwartz was the last man back and went
the other way on the next play."
Nobody on the Blues, including Schwartz and coach Ken Hitchcock, has
been surprised by Elliott's performance.
"He's been making those all year," Schwartz said. "If it wasn't for
him the whole game we wouldn't have been there. He made some big
saves from start to finish but obviously the OT one was a game
saver."
Schwartz followed the save by skating the length of the ice, out
racing the Los Angeles defense, to get off the shot which got past
Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick.
"It was kind of a little bit of a scramble in front and the puck
just kind of bounced and it was a race from there," Schwartz said.
"(Center Vincent) Lecavalier was chasing me and I just tried to get
the puck on net and I think it hit the post then bounced off Quick's
back and in. That's probably the longest breakaway I'll ever have. I
think it started at our goal line."
The Blues improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games while the Kings
fell to 0-2-1 in their last three. It is the first time they have
lost three in a row since the first three games of the season.
The Blues took a 1-0 lead 11:32 into the second period on a
power-play goal from left winger Robby Fabbri, his 14th of the year.
[to top of second column] |
Elliott made that lead stand up until the Kings tied it on a
power-play goal of their own, from right winger Tyler Toffoli, 3:25
into the third period. It was Toffoli's 24th goal of the year but
only his second in the last 13 games.
Quick was almost as good as Elliott, stopping 30 of 32 St. Louis
shots.
The Kings had to play the last two periods and overtime without one
of their leading scorers, center Anze Kopitar, who left the game
late in the first period with what was said to be a recurring
lower-body injury.
"It was a fun hockey game to be a part of, obviously wasn't the
outcome we wanted," said defenseman Drew Doughty. "That was a man's
game out there tonight. ... We need to come out on top of those.
We're sick of losing right now. We've got to get off this losing
streak."
The Kings' biggest problem has been on offense, having scored a
total of two goals in their last three games. Elliott had something
to do with shutting them down on Thursday night.
"We had our chances obviously Elliott made some nice saves, but
we've got to bury some of our chances," Toffoli said.
NOTES: Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said LW Jaden Schwartz will need to
play two or three more games before the team starts putting him on
the power play and penalty kill. Thursday night's game was the
fourth for Schwartz since returning from a broken ankle. ... Jordan
Binnington served as Blues backup goalie after being recalled from
Chicago of the AHL. G Jake Allen (knee) resumed practicing but is
still not ready to play. ... C Andy Andreoff and D Jamie McBain
returned to the Kings' lineup. C Nick Shore and D Kevin Gravel were
healthy scratches. ... The Kings conclude a season-long, seven-game
road trip on Saturday in Nashville before playing eight of their
next nine games at home, with the only road trip to Anaheim. ... The
Blues play at Arizona on Saturday night.
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reserved.]
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