St. Louis Blues 21-22

The Blues were a study in perseverance Tuesday at Enterprise Center. After all, they were down 3-0 to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions before some fans had finished that first beer.
Good luck with that.
But the Blues chipped away and chipped away. Forced overtime, killed a penalty in OT, and then got the shootout winner from captain Ryan O’Reilly in a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Goalie Jordan Binnington recovered from a horrendous start, kept at it, and was a rock in extra time, stopping all three Tampa Bay shots in overtime and all three Lightning shootout attempts.

“We had resiliency tonight for sure,” coach Craig Berube said. “Came out in the second and played a real good period, got us back in the game. And then that big power-play goal in the third (by Ivan Barbashev).

“Really good penalty kill obviously in the third, too, and in overtime. Those are big things. Special teams did a good job. I thought Binner did a hell of a job. It’s tough. A couple of their goals are a little bit lucky. But that happens. I thought our guys stuck with it and ended up coming out with a victory.”

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I have to admit I started flipping back and forth between the Blues game and osu vs, puke , especially after that fluke 3rd goal by Tampa bay making it 3-0 TB after only 5 + minutes into the game....

I had doubts the Blues would even make it respectable , but their grit showed up and they won .......

Lets Go Blues

Blues lost last night @ Tampa , 4-2........more bad news as follows .....................



TAMPA, Fla. — When COVID first worked its way through the Blues this season, it started slowly and then picked up speed. First it was Brandon Saad testing positive, then five days later Ryan O’Reilly, then another five days to Ville Husso. Then three players, Kyle Clifford, Torey Krug and Niko Mikkola tested positive in the span of five days.
So when Tyler Bozak tested positive on Tuesday, it seemed improbable that his would be an isolated case. On Thursday, two more skates dropped, as goalie Jordan Binnington and defenseman Justin Faulk tested positive and were placed on the league’s COVID protocol list. The Blues learned of Binnington’s test in the morning but didn’t announce Faulk’s till right before game time. He had taken part in the morning skate but didn’t come out for pregame warmups.

That will keep both out at least 10 days, plus however many more it takes them to get back up to speed after not being on the ice for an extended period. At goalie, Binnington’s absence will thrust backup Husso into the starting role over a busy stretch of games. Charlie Lindgren was called up from Springfield and because of salary cap rules, will join the team Friday. On Thursday, the Blues had to use an emergency backup, Kyle Konin. With Faulk out, it put Jake Walman back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 14.

Blues vs. Florida Panthers

Tied 1-1 after 1st period

Panthers are 13-1-1 on home ice.................

After 2 periods it's tied up 2-2.................

Blues down 1-0 after 1 period against the Florida panthers in another back to back game , this game in St. Louis....

They lost the game Saturday i believe 4-2....

This game tonight has all the earmarks for another loss....The Blues lost another player in Robert Thomas and are playing 10 forwards and 7 defensemen , so they are playing 1 man short tonight .....without a doubt this was the worst period of Blues play that I have witnessed this year .....and I have watched almost every game .....

Outshot 20-4 by the Panthers in the first period and only the great stops by Ville Husso kept this from being a 3-0 or even 4-0 game.................

Blues and Panthers tied 2-2 after second period.....

Much better period for the Blues ............Some good puck possession in the Panthers end and by the Blues and their power play is explosive....
Tarasenko with a nifty pass to Schenn in the crease for a power play goal....Tarasenko scored the Blues first goal on another of his patented wrist shot in a small opening glove side on the goalie......

Panthers are the best team i have seen this year with the Tampa Bay Lightening a close second .................

Blues win 4-3 in overtime....I was on a phone call when it happened so i had the sound off.....

Great comeback by the Blues after pathetic 1st period .....

next game is home @ Detroit Redwings......Thursday......................

Stow this one in the files of most improbable Blues victories ever. And put it near the front of the file.
They began a wintry Tuesday night with just 19 players in uniform and only 10 forwards available against one of the NHL’s elite teams.
After getting thoroughly — and we mean, thoroughly — outplayed in the opening period, they fought their way back into the contest with Vladimir Tarasenko and Brayden Schenn ending goal droughts to aid the comeback.

And then, with the game on the line in the third period, the Blues lost goalie Ville Husso and defenseman Jake Walman to injury — Husso with just 5 ½ minutes remaining in regulation.

Enter goalie Charlie Lindgren, called up from the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League last week after Jordan Binnington went on the COVID list. Lindgren had not played since Nov. 27 in Springfield, beating the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-2.

He hadn’t played in the NHL since March 7, 2020 — just five days before hockey and all of the sports world shut down with the coronavirus pandemic — when as a member of the Montreal Canadiens he lost 4-1 to, of course, the Florida Panthers.

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Great article with a lot of quotes from Chief and players.............................I had little hope of a Blues win last night , especially after the first period and with so many core players out , but the Blues came through.......

Lets Go Blues

Blues lead 2-0 after 1st period.....in St. Louis....

Both goals scored by today's latest call up Nathan Walker......Blues are missing 9 players for various reasons including both # 1 and # 2 goaltenders......

Lets Go Blues

Blues lead 3-1 after second period......Blues are playing well with so many core players out of the lineup........

Fabbri , a former Blues player , scored the goal for the Redwings in his first game back in st. Louis and Colton P. scored for the Blues...

Lets Go Blues

Blues win 6-2..................

Nathan Walker with a Hat Trick in his first game of the season with the Blues..........what a great game

Nathan Walker may not be with the Blues very long. He’s up with the big club as an emergency call-up while the team deals with a tsunami of injuries and illnesses, but other players returning to action seems imminent and when they do, he’ll be headed back to Springfield and the AHL.
But he made his stay, however short, a memorable one.
Walker, the Wales born, Australian raised, 5-foot, 9-inch bundle of energy, made his season debut with the Blues on Thursday and recorded his first career hat trick in a 6-2 win for the Blues over the Red Wings at Enterprise Center.

“It was incredible,” he said.

“It means a lot (to me),” said Charlie Lindgren, who has gone from No. 4 goalie on the team’s depth chart to No. 1 in less than a week because of injury, illness and the salary cap. “I couldn’t be happier for the guy. He’s … just an unbelievable guy, unbelievable teammate, unbelievable leader and to see him pot three tonight, I’m so proud of him.

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Blues have the Illini every day guy and next man up approach .........It's been a fun year so far for me watching this Blues team and how they have handled misfortune......And like the Illini , I think the Blues best play is yet to be played .....Could be a really special season for me and my favorite teams...

It really really could be special...................................................

Charlie Lindgren spent five seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, though very little of it in the Canadiens’ net.
He played 24 games with them in that time after he signed as a free agent after going undrafted out of St. Cloud State. His high for games in a season was 14, and he was in single digits in each of the other four seasons.
He signed a three-year, one-way contract with the team in 2018-19, but before the last year of the deal, the Canadiens acquired Jake Allen from the Blues to be Carey Price’s backup. Lindgren spent the final season of his contract almost entirely on Montreal’s taxi squad, getting in only three games with Montreal’s farm team Laval.

Lindgren, the unlikely Blues goalie, could be facing his old team Saturday night.

“I think it definitely means something to me,” he said. “Obviously I’m going to treat it like any other game, but yeah, it means something.”

That’s Jake again​

Meanwhile, two days after Robby Fabbri returned to St. Louis and scored two goals, Allen, a Blues’ goalie for seven seasons, makes his first trip back.

Allen had a 148-94-26 record with the Blues, with a .913 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He’s second all-time in games played (289) with the Blues and second in wins (Mike Liut had 151). His save percentage ranks eighth among among Blues goalies with at least 40 games. In the Stanley Cup season, he lost his starting job to Jordan Binnington but earned the respect of his teammates for helping Binnington along the way.

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The Illini vs Arizona at 4 pm , then the Blues start an hour earlier at 6 pm tonight....Gonna be a good night for me , tempered with the bad news coming from the terrible storms last night and this morning..........................

Blues lead 3-0 against the Montreal Canadians after 2 periods...

Who were those guys on the ice Saturday? A lot of them were unfamiliar to all but the most zealous Blues fans at the start of the season.
Or was Joshua, from Brown and Peca, in your head all along for a Blues goal in December? With Charlie Lindgren notching his third consecutive victory in goal?
It doesn’t seem to matter who the Blues throw out on the ice lately — the train rolls on. With a lineup littered with call-ups from their Springfield Thunderbirds affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Blues posted a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens before 16,829 at Enterprise Center

Despite playing shorthanded in one way or another for a couple of weeks, the Blues are 5-1-1 in their last seven contests.
“Yeah, guys are playing pretty good hockey with a depleted lineup and they’re battling and doing all the (right) things,” Berube said. “We’ve got guys coming in and doing a good job for us, guys getting called up from Springfield. Goaltending’s been good. Lindgren played well both games. We’re getting contributions from everybody.”





When, where: 6 p.m. Sunday, Enterprise Center

TV, radio: BSM, WXOS (101.1 FM)

After missing the playoffs the past three seasons, a young Anaheim squad is much-improved this season — 15-8-5 and second in the Pacific Division entering the Pittsburgh game. The Ducks were among the top 10 in the NHL in offense, power play and penalty kill.

Blues vs. Anaheim Ducks .....Blues home game.......

Ducks lead 1-0 after 1 period.......

Entertaining game so far....Blues have another new goalie in Gillies tonight..............

kyrou out with an injury means Blues playing with only 17 players tonight.......The absurdity of the NHL regarding salary cap and covid protocol limitations needs to be looked at for the sake of the game and fans ........................JMHO

Blues lose 3-2 in overtime .......ugh.....on a penalty shot by Terry for the Ducks....Blues rookie defenseman Perunovich gives up the puck at center ice and has told take a penalty that was ruled a penalty shot...it was the right call......

Blues get a point, at least...................

The preposterous has become routine for the Blues this season, with injuries on top of injuries on top of COVID tests, all leading to a lineup that on Sunday night was their most decimated yet, missing 10 players, including six forwards, to injuries and illnesses.
By the time the Blues’ game with Anaheim was done, they had lost another forward, Brayden Schenn, to injury because, hey, it had been 24 hours since someone had gotten hurt, so they were about due and good luck can last only so long.
That the Blues have survived this stretch has been nothing short of amazing, and the team keeps picking up old pairs of pants and finding $20 bills in the pocket. Maybe the most surprising thing on Sunday night was that they didn’t write yet another Cinderella story.

The Blues were already without Jordan Kyrou, the team leader in points, who had left Saturday’s game early with an injury. The Blues once again had only 11 healthy forwards and, when asked if any of the injured players could be back by Tuesday, when the Blues play at Dallas, Berube said, “I would say no, but I’m not going to sit here and set that in stone. It’s too early to tell right now.”

Anaheim tied the game with 6:31 to play in the third, and Gillies had to make a few more saves to get the game to overtime. There, Scott Perunovich turned the puck over in the Ducks’ zone to spring Troy Terry on a breakaway. Perunovich used his stick to try to slow him and was called for hooking, giving Anaheim a penalty shot. Terry converted to give Anaheim the win.

“I wish I could have made the stop for Scottie because he played a fantastic game,” Gillies said. “He had a fantastic last few games. He deserved better than that.”
The Blues felt the same way about Gillies.
“He played a great game,” O’Reilly said. “He made some really key saves for us. He deserved better. A little frustrating, having the lead late there and giving one up. … That game, it was there for the taking. I feel bad for Gillies, he deserved that win. He played great tonight.”

Might as well call them the Springfield ThunderBlues at this point with how much of the AHL roster they've had to call up.

The personnel carousel continues to spin for the Blues — and at a dizzying pace.
David Perron has been placed on long-term injured reserve, while Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas were placed on the “regular” injured reserve list.
But Tyler Bozak and Justin Faulk have been activated from the COVID list, and forward Alexei Toropchenko has been recalled from the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate. (Will the last player in Springfield please turn off the lights?)


The moves will give the Blues 12 healthy forwards, yes, enough to field four full lines, for Tuesday’s contest in Dallas against the Stars. Faulk’s return gives the team seven defensemen, or one more than the minimum needed on game day.
Goalie Jordan Binnington remains on the COVID list. Last week, general manager Doug Armstrong said he hoped to have Binnington back in time for Tuesday’s game in Dallas or Friday’s game in St. Louis against Dallas. It looks like Tuesday no longer is an option.

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Away game tonight against the Dallas Stars @ 7:30 pm CT..............................

Getting Faulk back is huge , as he has been the best Blues defenseman this year ....Steading influence on D and been pretty aggressive in the opponents
end of the ice ......Bozak is also big , as he is a great 2 way player and plays on both the power play and penalty kill teams.....

Blues - Stars tied 1-1 end of second period....

Typical old time Black and Blue Division game .......Plenty of big hits , good puck movement and great goal tending by both goalies.....

New NL # 2...........................................



is really enjoying watching her first hockey game and she really likes the intermission's...........She really really does , as that's when we do the touching sessions that has her relaxing and moaning softly............

NL # 3 ......................................................




has done a great job of explaining hockey rules to NL # 2.......

I love my life..................................I really really do.....................

Blues win 4-1...........great goal tending by Lindgren.....Faulk impressive in first game back after 10 day covid absence . scoring a goal.........One of the Blues best road games this year.....Stars always play the Blues tough , especially in Dallas ....Blues stop the Stars eight game home winning streak.....

Next game is Friday against the same Stars team in St. Louis @ 7 pm CT...

Lets Go Blues

pruman91 said:

Next game is Friday against the same Stars team in St. Louis @ 7 pm CT...

Click to expand...

And is the 2nd of 4 scheduled games they have this season that are airing only on ESPN+ and Hulu. The other remaining two are on March 24th and April 19th.

Jim Thomas
DALLAS — The Blues dressed seven players Tuesday who began the year in the minor leagues. Two others were in their first games back from the COVID list.
What could possibly go wrong?
As it turned out, not much. The St. Louis/Springfield Blues continued their winning ways, snapping Dallas’ eight-game home-winning streak at American Airlines Center. On the other side of the coin, the Blues’ 4-1 victory also snapped a six-game winless streak (0-4-2) on the road for St. Louis, which had not won away from the friendly confines of Enterprise Center since a 3-2 shootout win Nov. 9 at Winnipeg.

That was a while ago.
They did it Tuesday with another patchwork lineup. Alexei Toropchenko, the latest call-up from the Springfield Thunderbirds, made his NHL debut. Charlie Lindgren — yes, Charlie Lindgren — improved to 4-0-0 in goal. Veterans Tyler Bozak and Justin Faulk returned from the COVID list.

And when all was said and done, the Blues improved to 16-8-5; they are 6-1-2 over their past nine games, a period that roughly coincides with the recent avalanche of injuries and COVID cases.

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Lot's of good quote's from Chief Berube and others.......

lets Go Blues

Jim Thomas
DALLAS — Way back in 2018, during the NHL prospect tournament in Traverse City, Michigan, then-Blues coach Mike Yeo said he saw potential in Alexei Toropchenko.
Well, after a final year in juniors, parts of two seasons in the minor leagues and with one season in the Kontinental Hockey League sandwiched in between — here he is.
Toropchenko, a 22-year-old native of Moscow, made his Blues and NHL debut Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. He had 8:19 of ice time in the Blues’ 4-1 victory, in which he had two shots on goal and two hits.

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nice article....updates on other players also.................................