Game: 2 of 82

Blues win 3-2 over Wild.

Goals: Steen (1), Yakupov (1), and Paajarvi (1)

I won’t lie to you all. I missed most of the entire first period¹. However, from what I saw in shot totals, I’d say the Blues dominated the first period, holding the Wild to only 2 shots. The rest of the game was close, physical and pretty even on both sides.

There were a few more miscues from the Blues that we didn’t see in the first game against the Blackhawks though.  Midway through the 1st period, the Blues on the power play, a cross ice pass from Tarasenko intended for Stastny was picked off and led to a short handed breakaway by Wild’s winger Jason Zucker. Luckily Jake Allen “stood on his head and spit out wooden nickels” on that one, denying Zucker with a glove save on a backhand attempt.

Then early in the 2nd period, another turnover by the Blues led to a small breakaway attempt for the Wild. Allen made the initial save on a Ryan Suter backhand, but Suter recovered the rebound and put it in the wide open net. Lastly, there was yet another turnover in the offensive zone on a forced pass from Fabbri that led to an Eric Staal² breakaway, but Allen came up with another great save.

Then the Yakupov show started.

First, Nail hammered³ a shot past Dubnyk, even though he thought he caught it⁴.

Now I stated, and so far have a good shot, that Yakupov will have 20+ goals this year. Based on that laser shot, I’m more and more confident that’s going to actually happen.

Then he setup the eventual game-winning goal with a quick, tape-to-tape cross ice pass to Magnus Paajarvi.

I shouldn’t have called it the Yakupov show, since that entire line was nailing it all night. The Big Swede, Berglund, had 2 assists and as shown in the previous GIF, Paajarvi had the game winner. But knowing Hitch, and the way coaches coach in STL, the lineup won’t be the same tomorrow. I can’t completely complain about it now though, as 2 wins in 2 games is 1) a small sample size, and 2) Hitch and the Blues have the 3rd best record in the whole NHL since 2012⁵.

Although, you have to constantly wonder what sort of talent players like Paajarvi, Rattie, Jaskin, to name a few, actually have if they would play on a more regular basis. Hell, we don’t 100% really know what kind of player Jake Allen is yet. Between injuries and the split time with Brian Elliot⁶, I’d like to see what he can do being like all the other top goals in the league who start 50+ games. So far, so good I suppose. I’ll stop my mini-rant. Just keep on, keeping on Blues.

Quick Hits

• Blues have already been shorthanded 9 times this season (leads NHL). Not good.
• Jay Bouwmeester had 5 shot blocks last night, putting him 2nd in the league so far this season in that category⁷.
• Currently, Jake Allen leads the league in wins with a whopping 2. So might as well start the inscription on the Vezina Trophy now.
• These stats will be more interesting as the season goes⁸.

GIF of the Game

pic.twitter.com/7hr6rfLOoN

— vhs (@VanHicklestein) October 14, 2016

Yakupov was last night’s #1 star with his goal and assist. After Parayko (3rd star) and Berglund (2nd star) only skated out about 5 feet from the bench and threw their shirts literally to the same spot, Yakupov came out blazing and enjoyed his first 1-on-1 moment with the Scottrade Center faithful.

Up Next

The Blues faceoff against the New York Rangers on Saturday at home.

Bold Prediction: Yakupov scores again. Blues win in OT 4-3.

Not so Bold Prediction: Paajarvi is scratched from the lineup or Vlad scores again. However, both are likely.

Final note, the Blues aren’t the only ones starting off the season with a streak. I have defied the odds, overcame obstacles like the condition from birth known as “laziness” and actually wrote recaps for two straight games. On back to back days nonetheless⁹! Booyah!

So until next time Blues fans, we’ll see yas.

1. Dynamite analysis David.
2. No relation to Team Iceland’s Gunner Staal, from Might Ducks 2. Trust me, I checked.
3. My apologies.
4. Just look at the disappointment at the end of this GIF.
5. 177 wins, including regular season and playoffs.
6. Who gave up 6 goals in his first start for Calgary. Yuck.
7. Won’t last, but that’s okay. No offense Jay.
8. But no promises
9. “He’s heating up!” – NBA Jam.