Columbus Blue Jackets At St. Louis Blues Post Game
By Tyler West
The Columbus Blue Jackets took to the road to face the St. Louis Blues in Missouri. The first period was pretty even, both teams having some quality scoring chances. It was the Blue Jackets, though, that tickled the twine first.
With the assistance of Nathan Horton, Ryan Murray (assist), and Brandon Dubinsky (assist), Artem Anisimov found himself with the puck in the middle of the ice, and time to shoot. He didn’t need a lot of it, however, as he fired a bullet past Blues goaltender Brian Elliot.
Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
The Columbus Blue Jackets didn’t stop there and doubled the score on a whacky bounce from…wait, give me just a second…Mark Letestu? Yep. Mark Letestu, who hand’t scored since the second game of the year (!!!) took a shot from the left point. It hit a Blues player and took a weird hop up and over Elliot. The goal came only seconds after a failed Columbus power play.
The all-important next goal went to the St. Louis Blues about seven minutes in to the second period. A cannon of a shot from the stick of Barret Jackman, who was on the right point, deflected off the body of Patrick Berglund and into the net.
Although the Blues didn’t score on their second period power play (Fedor Tyutin with the penalty), their relentless pressure finally cracked the Blue Jackets. With 4:05 left in the middle period, Vladimir Sobotka took the puck up ice, past the Columbus defenseman, and fired a backhander off McElhinney’s pads. Not done, Sobotka got his own rebound and popped it in, tying the game.
Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis took the lead only a minute and a half later as Maxim Lapierre, on a rush, took a shot from the inside of the face-off circle. Wide open and with plenty of space, Lapierre was able to surprise McElhinney.
Only 15 seconds into the final period, the Blues took a two goal lead. Fighting for the puck in the corner, a Blues skater was able to elude Jack Johnson to get a back hand pass into the crease. The puck was then deflected off the stick of Patrick Berglund, going up and over the glove of McElhinney.
The fifth goal for St. Louis came 9 minutes later when Jaden Schwartz tipped in a rebound from a David Backes shot. Backes, with a football field of space, gathered the puck and headed towards the net. After pulling it into a backhand, the shot rebounded off a pad and gift wrapped itself for Schwartz.
It didn’t get any better for the boys from Arch City. Curtis McElhinney, after stopping an initial shot from Alex Pietrangelo, gave up a goal by the same player only seconds later when a wrister beat him. McElhinney’s shutout seemed like a lot longer than last game.
The game ended in 6 unanswered goals for the Blues as they blew out Columbus, 6-2. When it rains on the Jackets, it pours.They were never able to find their game after St.Louis started to come back.