NHL

Game 6: Blues Fall Late for Third Straight Loss in St. Louis Blues vs Montreal Canadiens

The St. Louis Blues flew to Montreal after losing back-to-back games on the weekend. Jake Allen was back in net for the Blues after getting a night off on Sunday. Allen has played in four games this season and has just one win and currently holds on to a .878 Save Percentage and 4.13 Goals Against Average. The Blues faced Carey Price in net for the Montreal Canadiens.

Both teams did not play too good in the game and it came down to a final minute miscommunication by the Blues Defense to declare a winner. Mike Yeo was aware of the poor play by the Blues and addressed it after the game.

1st Period

Alex Pietrangelo holds the puck in the offensive zone and the game is under way. He flips it to the far corner where the puck is poked up the boards by Mike Reilly. Max Domi finds himself with the puck. He has space and shifts into gear. He flies down the right wing. Tarasenko can not catch up to Domi while Pietrangelo is playing the pass. Domi gets to the hash mark and fires a back hand shot between the legs of Jake Allen for a goal 39 seconds into the game.

MTL Goal: Max Domi (1) Assisted By: Artturi Lehkonen (3) and Mike Reilly (2) 1-0 Canadiens

2nd Period

The Blues are on the powerplay 3:15 into the period. Tarasenko has it at the half wall and sends a sharp pass to Vince Dunn who reaches back to keep the puck in. Dunn moves it with and fakes a shot but hands the puck back to Tarasenko. He turns and moves forward and gives it back to Dunn. Vince Dunn one-times the puck and into the net for a BLUUUEESSS POWERPLAY GOAL under a hopping Ryan O’Reilly.

STL Goal: Vince Dunn (2) Assisted By: Vladimir Tarasenko (3) and Ryan O’Reilly (5) 1-1 Tie

After a hooking penalty by Jay Bouwmeester, Montreal gets a powerplay. On the powerplay, the Canadiens are set up. Charles Hudon has it and goes to pass the puck to Mike Reilly but fans on the pass. Reilly slides over to get the puck and walks the line perfectly to avoid Brayden Schenn. Reilly looks up and snipes a wrist shot from way out to score over Allen’s blocker and give the Canadiens the lead.

MTL Goal: Mike Reilly (1) Assisted By: Charles Hudon (1) and Jonathan Drouin (2) 2-1 Canadiens

3rd Period

This time the Blues are on the powerplay again. The puck is dumped in and now it is David Perron with it. Alexander Steen receives the pass from Perron. Steen bobbles it and picks it up below the goal line and looks for a man. He has Schenn wide open at the near faceoff circle. Schenn receives the pass and fires a one-time wrist shot for a second BLUUUEESSS POWERPLAY GOAL.

STL Goal: Brayden Schenn (3) Assisted By: Alexander Steen (3) and David Perron (1) 2-2 Tie

Me: “This game ended in a tie…”

Also Me: “Jared, you know we have to talk about it.”

Me: “You’re right…”

With under a minute to play in the period, the Canadiens shoot it out of the zone and Colton Parayko picks it up in his own end. He looks up and sees he has Brendan Gallagher in front of him. After the game Joel Edmundson said he called for this pass. Parayko hears Edmundson calling for the pass and sees he is wide open. As Parayko goes to pass it he heals the puck and sends a slow roller to open ice. Joel Edmundson and Tomas Tatar race for it. Both of their sticks wack the puck to Gallagher’s direction. Allen slides over to stop the tip in but Gallagher tips it over Jake’s right pad for the game… winning… goal… with 10.8 seconds left in the game.

MTL Goal: Brendan Gallagher (4) Assisted By: Tomas Tatar (4) 3-2 Canadiens

Final: Montreal 3 – St. Louis 2

Breathe….. AAAHHHHHH!!!! I do not know what is more disappointing, this game or last season’s game 80 against the Blackhawks. Both were last minute goals against to end the game. Mike Yeo’s post game comments are down below from Fox Sports Midwest.

Yeo is absolutely right. There is no way the players can not be embarrassed with the end to the game. However, with this being said, the players need to forget about the loss and move on. Like my high school baseball coach would say “Flush it.” Meaning flush this game down the drain and forget about the outcome. Tomorrow is a new day.

Thoughts

• The Blues seriously need to do something with their Defense. Every game Jay Bouwmeester proves to me that he can not perform on the top pair with Pietrangelo.
• Quit giving up late goals that extinguish all momentum. Just play smart hockey like you guys know how to do.
• Like I said last article: Blues fans be patient. Even my patience is wearing thin at the moment. We just need to breathe.

What’s Ahead?

The St. Louis Blues (1-3-2) are the visitors to the Toronto Maple Leafs (6-2-0) on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 6:00pm because the game is on Hockey Night In Canada. The hot Maple Leafs have the best powerplay in the league along with the current points leader Auston Matthews (16 points) on the top line. This will be the biggest test for the Blues early on this year.

Other Blues News

• Robert Bortuzzo did not play in this game.
• According to Jeremy Rutherford, Jay Bouwmeester skated in the extra D-pair for the teams practice today. Yeo said the team is considering everything. Will Bouwmeester be a healthy scratch on Saturday?

Social Media

Follow Jared on Twitter @jared_pettus_00

Photo Credit

Photo Courtesy of Richard Wolowicz