WASHINGTON – You’re going to see a lot more of Joel Hofer next season and in the future. The 22-year-old from Winnipeg has been grooming his game for the past couple of years with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
It usually takes goalies a little longer to marinate than forwards or defensemen, but Hofer appears ready for the big leagues.
Called up after Jordan Binnington received a two-game suspension for giving Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman and up-close look at his blocker, Hofer was impressive in the Blues’ 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Friday at Capital One Arena.
He was calm, composed, and almost always in position. He was active out of the net, getting the puck to his teammates. And when the dust settled, he had 32 saves.
Offensively, the Blues got two goals by Sammy Blais, one apiece by Jordan Kyrou, Kasperi Kapanen and Brayden Schenn. Schenn's was an empty-netter.
At 30-33-5 the Blues return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. Washington, fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but currently out of the top eight, fell to 33-30-7.
Hofer is slated to be the team’s backup goalie next season. So Friday’s game — and perhaps Sunday’s as well as Binnington finishes out his suspension — provide an unexpected sneak peek.
Martin Fehervary’s goal at the 5:47 mark of the third period ended Hofer’s shutout bid and brought the Capitals and their fans to life.
It became a 4-2 game with just 2:45 to play when Nicklas Backstrom scored a power-play goal with Justin Faulk in the box for slashing. But that was as close as the Capitals got.
Hello, Hofer
After the morning skate, Hofer was asked what he knew about the Capitals.
“I know they got one of the best goal-scorers of all time,” Hofer replied.
Hofer met the “Great 8” — Alex Ovechkin — fairly early in the first period after Nick Leddy was sent off for tripping T.J. Oshie. Well, he met an Ovechkin shot anyway.
Ovechkin sent a one-timer from his office — the left circle — at the net during the Capitals’ power play, but Hofer made a fairly routine save. Ovechkin, by the way, has scored a goal against 169 goalies over his illustrious career.
He was trying to make Hofer victim No. 170 on Friday. Hofer was calm and collected in the opening period, stopping all 11 Capitals shots. Probably their best chance came a little less than four minutes in when Aliaksei Protas broke in down let wing on a 2-on-1 break.
But Hofer was in good position and stopped Protas’ initial shot as well as his rebound attempt.
Happy birthday, Etienne
Blais’ older brother Etienne celebrated his birthday Friday by driving down from Quebec with a bunch of friends to watch his brother play at Capital One Arena. Sammy sprung for the tickets.
Just 1:54 into the game, Blais gave Etienne a birthday present, scoring the game’s first goal on a tap-in off a pass from Brandon Saad.
And Blais wasn’t done giving. With 5:24 left in the second period, he scored again — this time with a shot from the near slot that made it 4-0 Blues. It was a strange sequence, because it wasn’t originally ruled a goal. But a brief review added it to the tally for the Blues.
Blais’ second goal of the night made it the first multi-goal game of his NHL career.
In 17 games with the Blues, Blais now has six goals and three assists.
In 17 games with the New York Rangers, Vladimir Tarasenko has four goals and seven assists.
Blais, of course, was part of the Feb. 9 trade that sent Tarasenko to the Rangers.
Streaks extended
Kyrou entered the game with 30 goals for the season and a five-game point streak. Less than five minutes into the second period, that tote board became light.
Back deep in his own zone, Colton Paryako rimmed a puck around the boards. Former Capital Jakub Vrana was there for the puck right at the redline in front of the player benches, and promptly shipped it cross-ice to Kyrou, who got behind two Washington defenders through the back door for a breakaway.
Kyrou beat Caps goalie Darcy Kuemper glove side, giving the Blues a 2-0 lead at the 4:51 mark of the second. So make it 31 goals for Kyrou, extending his career high, and a six-game point streak.
About 4 1/2 minutes later it became 3-0 Blues when Kasperi Kapanen broke in down right wing and ripped a shot that beat Kuemper stick side at the 9:25 mark. It was Kapanen’s 10th goal of the season overall and his third in nine games with St. Louis after being claimed on waivers from Pittsburgh.
Buchnevich had the primary assist on the play, extending his point streak to 11 games — just one short of his career high set last season with the Blues.
