WASHINGTON – Before at least some of the Blues went to sleep Monday night, they found themselves out of second place in the Central, and all the way into the fourth spot – a wild-card spot – in the division.
That’s because Minnesota and Nashville both won to move ahead of St. Louis. This time of year, things can happen fast.
“It’s been tight all year,” coach Craig Berube said. “You wake up one morning and you’re in a wild-card (spot) – that’s the way it goes. We gotta keep winning games. That’s what it tells you. That’s it.”
After winning only two of their previous nine games in March (going 2-4-3), the Blues returned to their winning ways with a 5-2 triumph Tuesday over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
“We’ve known from the last however many games – the last 30 games – that this was gonna be a fight right to the end,” Brayden Schenn said. “We have good teams in our division. . . .You have to win your games.
“Yeah, we realize how tight it is. And where we sit in the standings. Like I said, you gotta worry about your two points each night. In the previous 10 (games), I don’t believe we’ve been great. We gotta get a whole better in the last 20 games here.”
They got better Tuesday; Schenn made sure of it with a gritty goal and a gritty assist. Then again, that was the theme of the night with the first four Blues goals coming on effort plays from in close. The only exception was David Perron’s empty net goal in the final minute, giving him 13 goals in his last 10 games. (Schenn got his second assist of the night on the empty-netter).
The Blues, now 35-18-9, finished the game without defenseman Torey Krug, who got whacked on the left hand by a Capitals player in the second period, and quickly left the game for good. Berube provided no details on the injury – referring to it as an upper-body injury.
The Blues also got a Brandon Saad, the game-winner from Nathan Walker. And a power play goal from Ryan O’Reilly. Ville Husso stopped 19 of 21 shots in goal.
The first period was not one for the faint-hearted. The teams combined for 28 shots and four goals in a 2-2 game after 20. And that didn’t included a backhand by Brayden Schenn that got past Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek but clanged off the post. Or a couple of point-blank shots by Washington that Husso managed to turn away
But for the third game in a row, the Blues yielded the game’s first goal. On Tuesday it was Evgeny Kutznetsov on the power play. Robert Bortuzzo had been sent off for cross-checking Garnet Hathaway at the 8:10 mark of the game – a call Bortuzzo clearly didn’t like
In any event, Kutnetsov’s shot from right wing trickled high off Husso’s glove behind him. Attempting to bat the puck out of the way and out of harm’s way, Colton Parayko inadvertently directed the puck into the net.
Less than 3 ½ minutes later, Saad’s 19th goal of the season tied it at 1-all on an impressive individual effort. Saad skated nearly coast-to-coast, splitting a pair of Capitals defenders and then beating Vanecek with a backhand.
Washington countered with Tom Wilson’s 19th goal, scored after he got behind Niko Mikkola on a 2-on-1 rush.
But with Michal Kempny off for interference, Saad dug the puck out of a net-front scrum and passed it to O’Reilly for a tap in power play goal and a 2-2 game.
The Blues followed that up with one of their best second periods in a while. Schenn had a lot to stay about that with some help from Walker.
Midway through the second period, Schenn raced in and took a strong shot from in close on Vanecek. Vanecek made the save, but Schenn muscled his way for control of the puck and managed to shuffle the puck over to the other side of the crease.
In came a hustling Walker for a tap-in goal at the 10:31 mark of the second period, snapping the 2-2 tie. Walker because of injuries and illness in the forward group – including no Robert Thomas or Vladimir Tarasenko on Tuesday – the Blues needed help up front. They were short another man when Oskar Sundqvist was traded to Detroit on Monday.
So up came Walker from the Blues’ Springfield, Mass., farm club and as has happened before, he provided instant energy. It was the fifth goal in 10 games with the Blues this season for Walker, who began his NHL career with Washington.
The Blues had a lot of zone time in this period, and a lot of breakouts. They kept the pressure up after the Walker goal, and took a 4-2 lead late in the period on yet another net-front goal. This time, Schenn did most of the work.
First, he swooped around for behind the net and whipped a quick shot at Vanecek. The rebound kicked out just a couple of feet. Schenn spun around Conor Sheary and got just enough of his stick on the puck to score his 18th goal.
With 2:47 left in the period, the Blues were up 4-2. The Blues didn’t let up in the third period, continuing to pressure the Washington defense.
