Monday 2 October 2017

Blues - Pre-Season Games - September 2017


Blues @ Dallas Stars 3-5 - Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Jamie Benn scored the go-ahead goal on the power play 12:19 into the third period to help the Dallas Stars to a 5-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at American Airlines Center. Dallas forward Brett Ritchie scored to tie it 3-3 at 8:04 of the third. Ben Bishop allowed three goals on 15 shots in his Stars debut, and Mike McKenna made 11 saves in relief. Tyler Pitlick scored an empty-net goal for Dallas with 1:44 remaining in the preseason opener for each team. Mattias Janmark scored at 11:47 of the first period to get the Stars within 2-1 after the Blues got goals from Wade Megan (3:19) and Klim Kostin (11:14). Nicholas Caamano tied it 2-2 at 4:11 of the second. Samuel Blais scored at 12:15 of the second to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Blues starting goalie Carter Hutton allowed two goals on 11 shots, and Jordan Binnington made 10 saves.

Blues @ Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 OT - Wednesday, September 20, 2017


Vladimir Tarasenko scored 2:58 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scottrade Center. Blues forward Jaden Schwartz tied it 2-2 with a shorthanded goal 15:05 into the second period.
Zac Dalpe gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead with goals at 7:36 and 10:54 of the second. Tarasenko gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 6:51 into the first period. Jake Allen made 11 saves on 13 shots in the first 39:42 for St. Louis. Brad Thiessen made 25 saves on 27 shots for Columbus in the first two periods.
Blues @ Washington Capitals 4-0 - Friday, September 22, 2017
Robert Thomas scored two goals, and Ville Husso made 27 saves to earn the shutout for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-0 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Friday. Thomas and Connor Bleackley scored 39 seconds apart late in the first period to give the Blues a 2-0 lead. Thomas, selected by St. Louis with the No. 20 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, scored on the power play at 12:22 of the third period to make it 3-0, and Klim Kostin's goal with 3:32 remaining put the Blues up 4-0. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby allowed two goals on 22 shots through the second period. Pheonix Copley made six saves in relief.

Dallas Stars @ Blues 4-0 - Saturday, September 23, 2017
Kari Lehtonen made 21 saves for the Dallas Stars in a 4-0 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center. Dan Hamhuis, Jason Spezza, Remi Elie and Mattias Janmark scored for the Stars. Devin Shore had two assists. Jake Allen made 34 saves for the Blues. Hamhuis scored 2:09 into the game, and Spezza made it 2-0 at 15:12 of the first period, when the Stars outshot the Blues 16-8. Dallas had 30 shots on goal by the end of the second period. Elie (4:56) and Janmark (15:50) scored in the third.

Blues @ Penguins 4-1 - Sunday, September 24, 2017
It may be the preseason, but the atmosphere certainly had the intensity of a Stanley Cup Playoff game when the St. Louis Blues defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in the third annual Kraft Hockeyville USA game at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Sunday. The Penguins, playing in front of 1,500 fans in their practice rink, were the home team after Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, topped the more than 1,300 entries to win the title. As a result, the Rostraver Ice Garden received $150,000 in renovations and the community had numerous festivities leading up to the game, including a visit from the Stanley Cup.
"They seemed like they were into it and excited and it's a place we are used to practicing and not having a full rink and playing a game," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "It was neat that way. Unfortunately, we couldn't give them more to cheer about."
Prior to the game, 17-year-old Jordyn Walker sang the national anthem. Walker, from Cranberry, won a contest held several weeks ago. A familiar voice was heard over the speakers; Penguins PA announcer Ryan Mill was in attendance. So was Iceburgh, the Penguins mascot and Louie, the Blues mascot. When the game started a few minutes later, the Penguins fed off the crowd to take an early 1-0 lead with the Penguins' normal goal horn blaring. Sidney Crosby, making his preseason debut, fed Jake Guentzel on a 2-on-1 for a goal against Blues goalie Carter Hutton at 2:05.
"It's fun for everybody, including the kids to see it up close," Crosby said. "We usually practice here with a few people in the building; not necessarily sold out like that. For them to be able to share that with us and for us to be able to share that with them was pretty cool."
Crosby, along with forwards Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and defenseman Kris Letang, each made his preseason debut. Matt Murray made 43 saves for the Penguins. Murray has good memories from his previous Hockeyville USA game in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 2015.
"I still remember that game," Murray said. "I think it was my first full exhibition game in the NHL so Hockeyville definitely has a kind of special place in my heart for sure. It's a ton of fun to play in these games and this one was no different."
Vladimir Tarasenko and Jordan Kyrou scored less than two minutes apart early in the second period to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead. Hutton made 28 saves.
Paul Stastny scored an empty-net goal with 23 seconds left and Dmitrij Jaskin scored 12 seconds later for a 4-1 lead.
"I think this is always fun for us," Stastny said. "We don't get to experience this much, but we follow the NHL and see all the buildup starting for the whole weekend. That is what hockey is about. Growing the sports in the small communities, small places that need it and kind of where the roots of the game start. Anything you can do to host a preseason game and be able to play in it for these guys is always fun."
After the game, players saluted the fans at center ice. Roughly 40 jerseys were given to children signed by either the entire Blues or Penguins team.
"It was a great event," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I think that it was extremely well organized, good turnout. Good venue. It was a good night."
The Penguins will open their regular season and raise their 2016-17 Stanley Cup championship banner against the Blues on Oct. 4 at PPG Paints Arena.
"It's a more intimate environment," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "The fans are so close to the game. I think they can get a whole different appreciation for the speed of the game. I know our players were excited to play in it. I think it's just a really neat opportunity to see an NHL game up close. I thought it was a great event."

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Blues 5-2 - Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Five players scored for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Nationwide Arena. Columbus took a 3-0 lead on first-period goals by Tyler Motte (1:47), Markus Hannikainen (10:48) and Markus Nutivaara (14:46, power play). The Blue Jackets made it 4-1 on a goal by Pierre-Luc Dubois 8:54 into the second period, and 5-2 when Dean Kukan scored on a power play with 5:46 remaining in the third. Sam Blais (7:52) and Tage Thompson (14:48) scored in the second period for the Blues. Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves and had an assist for Columbus. Jake Allen made 35 saves for St. Louis.

Minnesota Wild @ Blues 3-2 - Thursday, September 28, 2017
Charlie Coyle scored shorthanded with 4.3 seconds remaining in the third period to give the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Sprint Center, Kansas City. Wild defenseman Kyle Quincey scored 9:29 into the third to tie it 2-2. Vladimir Tarasenko scored on the power play 8:06 into the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Luke Kunin tied it 1-1 at 16:27.Oskar Sundqvist gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at 15:44 of the second period.

Washington Capitals @ Blues 4-3 - Sunday, October 01, 2017

Brett Connolly broke a tie with 4:26 remaining in the third period and gave the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on the final day of the NHL preseason. Tom Wilson, Devante Smith-Pelly and John Carlson also scored for Washington, and Matt Niskanen had two assists. Braden Holtby made 20 saves. Wade Megan, Dmitrij Jaskin and Brayden Schenn scored for St. Louis. Jake Allen made 17 saves. Wilson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 8:29 into the game before Megan tied it at 11:34. Jaskin (5:03) and Schenn (13:45, power play) had goals for the Blues in the second period. Smith-Pelly scored at 7:55. Carlson tied it for Washington 3:40 into the third period.

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