X75 Productions

Tag: Ryan O’Reilly

  • 2019-20 St. Louis Blues Preview

    2019-20 St. Louis Blues Preview

    Last Season: 45-28-9 99 pts (2nd (tie) in Central Division; WON STANLEY CUP)

    Key Additions: D Justin Faulk

    Key Departures: F Pat Maroon, D Joel Edmundson

     

    Top Questions Facing the Blues:

    1. Can Jordan Binnington keep up his unbelievable performance?

    Last season, the Blues called up Binnington midway through the season to replace a struggling Jake Allen, and his performance was nothing short of historic. He posted a record of 24-5-1, which for whatever is said about goaltending wins, that’s still a rather impressive team stat that Binnington played a significant role in. He had a goals against average (GAA) of 1.89, which lead the league, and, astoundingly, finished in the top 10 for the MVP award. His performance continued into the playoffs, where he was the first rookie goaltender to win 16 games. He was not all out dominant (by any means) in the playoffs, but he performed well in big games (like Game 7 of the SCF). What does this mean for the regular season? We’ll see. If he performs like he did in the regular season last year, the Blues will probably win the President’s Trophy. If he performs like he did in the playoffs, the Blues probably are not going to win the division, but they will make the playoffs, and it’s important to have a goalie that is very even-keeled in performance than spectacular for 5 games and terrible for the next 5 (which the Blues have had far too often in their history).

     

    2. Can the Blues improve their Power Play

    No. Oh, what? This is an open question? Sorry – then I guess we will have to see. Ok, the Blues power play might not be THAT bad – they had a 16.4% conversion rate in the playoffs, and were 9th overall in the regular season. The problem is that it went through extreme hot and cold stretches, which, like goaltending, is not ideal. The Blues need to figure out a way to have a more consistent power play, and my hope is that the addition of Marc Savard as an assistant coach will help.

     

    3. How will the young players do?

    Just like last season, a hinges on the productivity of new and relatively new, young players. Fortunately, last season, guys like Robert Thomas, Sammy Blais, Ivan Barbashev, and Vince Dunn all played very well. With another season under their belts, as well as the grueling (both mentally and physically) march to the Cup, there is no reason to suspect they will not continue to get better (especially now that Robert Thomas’s wrist is healed). I also look for contributions from Klim Kostin later in thee season.

     

    4. Can Craig Berube’s fiery leadership continue to inspire?

    I was very critical of Craig Berube last season – he seemed to make a lot of tactical mistakes, and the players seemed to repeat the same mistakes if there was even one game between the last time they made said mistakes. That said, winning takes not only intellect and correct X’s and O’s, but also inspiration. It’s clear that Berube offered the latter in spades. What’s also clear – and across all sports – is that the effectiveness of these words dissipates over time. There will come a time when the Blues need more than nebulous ‘leadership’ from their coach, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can provide it.

     

    5. How often should Blues fans be thanking Ryan O’Reilly?

    Daily.

     

    Ultimately, I believe the Blues can repeat as Stanley Cup champions. There is no other team that is decidedly better, though there are a handful of teams that the Blues are not decidedly better than. It will take focus, and probably a willingness to back of a little during the regular season to not become mentally and physically fatigued, but if they can maintain their focus and discipline, the Blues have a real shot at defending their title.

     

    Thanks for reading.

     

    Sponsored by:

    DerpyCon_General Ad.png

  • Stanley Cup Final Game 7 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

    Stanley Cup Final Game 7 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

    St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

    Game 7 – Series Tied 3-3

     

    Game Recap:

    Going into Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Boston Bruins will look to win their first ever Final Game 7 at home while the St. Louis Blues will look to win their first ever Stanley Cup in their 52 year history. To start the game both teams would play with a very high tempo, but it would be the Blues getting the early jump, but the Bruins would generate some of the better scoring opportunities. Throughout the majority of the first period it would be the Bruins dominating on the shot counter, but late in the period it would be the Blues getting a strong shift from Ryan O’Reilly and Sammy Blais as they would force the play in the Bruins zone that would allow Jay Bouwmeester to get off the point shot that O’Reilly would deflect and go right through Tuukka Rask for the first goal of the game. Then with 7.9 seconds off of a bad line change by Brad Marchand, Alex Pietrangelo would go into the Bruins zone unattended and would receive a beautiful pass from Jaden Schwartz as he would drive the net and backhand it past Rask to give the Blues a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

     

    Going into the second period the Blues looked to maintain their two goal lead over the Bruins, and they would play with a layered defense to clog up the neutral zone against the Bruins which would work for the most part as Jordan Binnington was able to see all shots that came his way when the Bruins would get into the Blues zone. The Blues would keep the Bruins off the board in the second period, and will need to continue their tough play and keep the play out of their zone for the final 20 minutes of this game.

     

    In the third period it would be very much the same as the second period as the Blues would continue playing their game against the Bruins, and while the Bruins would generate some solid chances, Binnington would stand tall and shut door on them. Then a little past the 11 minute mark Vladimir Tarasenko would work hard to get to the puck deep in the Bruins zone and would take a quick look before getting the puck and would feed Brayden Schenn in the slot who would one time it to make it a commanding 3-0 lead for the Blues. Then with less than five minutes left in the game David Perron would feed Zach Sanford in front of the net to seal the deal for the Blues and give them the 4-0 lead. However, with a little over two minutes left the Bruins would pull Tuukka Rask and Matt Grzelcyk would score to cut the Blues lead to three, but it would be too little too late as the Blues hold on for the 4-1 win to become the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions.

     

    Lineups:

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Sammy Blais — Tyler Bozak — Pat Maroon

    Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Joel Edmundson

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Robert Thomas, Robert Bortuzzo, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso, Jordan Nolan

     

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Karson Kuhlman

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    Matt Grzelcyk — John Moore

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, David Backes, Connor Clifton

    Injured: Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

     

    First Period:

    Blues Penalty – 7:57 – Colton Parayko 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Blues Goal – 16:47 – Ryan O’Reilly (8) from Jay Bouwmeester (7) and Alex Pietrangelo (16)

    Blues Goal – 19:52 – Alex Pietrangelo (3) from Jaden Schwartz (7)

     

    End of 1st – STL – 2       BOS – 0

    Shots              04                12

    Faceoffs         07                11

    Hits               14                  11

    PP                 0/0                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    N/A

     

    End of 2nd – STL – 2        BOS – 0

    Shots               10                 23

    Faceoffs          17                 18

    Hits                 27                  21

    PP                   0/0                  0/1

     

    Third Period:

    Blues Goal – 11:25 – Brayden Schenn (5) from Vladimir Tarasenko (6) and Jaden Schwartz (8)

    Blues Goal – 15:22 – Zach Sanford (1) from David Perron (9) and Ryan O’Reilly (15)

    Bruins Goal – 17:50 – Matt Grzelcyk (4) from David Krejci (12)

     

    End of 3rd – STL – 4         BOS – 1

    Shots              20                   33

    Faceoffs        25                    26

    Hits               36                     27

    PP                 0/0                    0/1

     

    Congratulations to the St. Louis Blues for becoming the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions!

     

     

    Thank you for following TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

     

    TXHT’s Stanley Cup Finals coverage sponsored by:

    4380127

  • Stanley Cup Final Game 6 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Stanley Cup Final Game 6 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Game 6 – STL Leads 3-2

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 6 in St. Louis the Blues will look to close out the Stanley Cup Final at home with the decisive fourth victory, but the Boston Bruins are highly motivated to send the series back to Boston for Game 7  after the controversial ending to Game 5. In the first period to start the game both teams would trade chances, but then penalties would come into play as at first the Bruins would get a delay of game penalty when Sean Kuraly would accidently shoot the puck over the boards. The Blues would not be able to capitalize on the powerplay, and then would take not one, but two penalties themselves to give the Bruins a two man advantage that would see David Pastrnak feed Brad Marchand the one timer for the first goal of the game and give the Bruins the 1-0 lead.

     

    In the second period the Blues would come out with a bit more step in their game, and would draw two penalties against the Bruins for two powerplays that saw them control the tempo very well. However, the Blues would not be able to capitalize on either opportunity, but they would continue their strong play. The Bruins would be able to hold off the Blues off of the hard work of Tuukka Rask and take their 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

     

    Going into the third period the Bruins would grow their lead to two when Brandon Carlo would get off a point shot that would take a rough bounce off the ice and squeak past Jordan Binnington to make it 2-0 for the Bruins early in the third. Then in the midway point of the third, Karson Kuhlman would rip a wicked wrist shot past Binnington to make it 3-0 for the Bruins as they would really push this game out of reach for the Blues. However, the Blues would respond off of an offensive zone faceoff when Ryan O’Reilly would get the rebound in front of the net and we would think Rask would make the save, but Toronto would call down to say that the puck went into the net and the Blues get back into this game as O’Reilly would be credited with his seventh of the playoffs and cut the Bruins lead to two. But the Bruins would not relent as Sean Kuraly would force a turnover behind the Blues net as he would get the puck to Brad Marchand who would feed David Pastrnak the puck would then make his move and get the puck over Binnington to regain the three goal lead, and then to seal the deal Zdeno Chara would lob the puck over into the Blues net to make it 5-1 to seal the Bruins Game 6 victory and force Game 7 on Wednesday night.

     

    Lineups:

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Karson Kuhlman

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    John Moore — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, David Backes

    Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (concussion protocol), Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas

    Sammy Blais — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso, Jordan Nolan

    Injured: None

    Suspended: Ivan Barbashev

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 2:42 – Sean Kuraly 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Blues Penalty – 7:17 – Brayden Schenn 2 minutes for Boarding

    Blues Penalty – 8:19 – Ryan O’Reilly 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Bruins PPG – 8:40 – Brad Marchand (9) from David Pastrnak (10) and Torey Krug (16)

    Bruins Penalty – 18:21 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Interference

     

    End of 1st – BOS – 1       STL – 0

    Shots              11                10

    Faceoffs         07                10

    Hits               10                  09

    PP                 1/2                 0/2

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 9:11 – Brad Marchand 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Penalty – 13:43 – Charlie McAvoy 2 minutes for Tripping

     

    End of 2nd – BOS – 1        STL – 0

    Shots               20                 19

    Faceoffs          17                 22

    Hits                 19                  23

    PP                   1/2                  0/4

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Goal  -2:31 – Brandon Carlo (2) from Jake DeBrusk (7)

    Bruins Goal – 10:15 – Karson Kuhlman (1) from David Krejci (11)

    Blues Goal – 12:01 – Ryan O’Reilly (7) from Alex Pietrangelo (15) and David Perron (8)

    Bruins Goal – 14:06 – David Pastrnak (9) from Brad Marchand (14) and Sean Kuraly (6)

    Bruins ENG – 17:41 – Zdeno Chara (2) from unassisted

    Blues Penalty – 19:38 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Slashing

    Blues Penalty – 19:38 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Roughing

    Bruins Penalty – 19:38 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Roughing

    Blues Penalty – 19:43 – Robert Bortuzzo 2 minutes for Cross Checking

     

    End of 3rd – BOS – 5         STL – 1

    Shots              32                   29

    Faceoffs        26                    37

    Hits               27                     29

    PP                 1/2                    0/4

     

    Next Up:

    Game 7 – Series Tied 3-3

     

    Thank you for following TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

     

    TXHT’s Stanley Cup Finals coverage sponsored by:

    4380127

  • Stanley Cup Final Game 5 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

    Stanley Cup Final Game 5 – St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

    St. Louis Blues v. Boston Bruins

    Game 5 – Series Tied 2-2

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 5 would be the question as to whether or not Zdeno Chara would suit up for the Boston Bruins after taking a puck to the jaw in Game 4 that would force him to miss the second half of the second period and entire third period. For the Bruins they would get Big Z for an important Game 5 against the visiting St. Louis Blues and he would play 5:55 in the first period. The Bruins would play off of that buzz of having Chara in the lineup and would outshoot the Blues 17-8 in the first, but would not get anything past Jordan Binnington who would stand tall in net.

     

    Heading into the second period the Blues would only need 55 seconds as Ryan O’Reilly would backhand a shot past Tuukka Rask to give the Blues the first lead of the game off of an amazing offesive zone rush by Blues to make the goal happen. The Blues would come close near the end of the period to extend their lead, but it would be David Krejci sliding through the crease to prevent Alex Pietrangelo from doing so.

     

    In the third period we would see the momentum rock back and forth between the two teams, but midway through the period the Blues would strike after a controversial play that would see Tyler Bozak trip Noel Acciari (sorry Aryan, it was a trip), but because the officials did not call it and play continued which would lead to David Perron scoring to make it 2-0 for the Blues. However, an irate Bruins team would respond during a delayed penalty against the Blues when Jake DeBrusk would score to cut the deficit back to one. The Bruins would force a late push, but the Blues would hold their ground and win the game 2-1 and take the 3-2 series lead going into Game 6 on Sunday night.

     

    Lineups:

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Sammy Blais

    Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn , Ville Husso

    Injured: Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

     

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    John Moore — Connor Clifton

    Steven Kampfer

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Karson Kuhlman, David Backes, Matt Grzelcyk

    Injured: Chris Wagner (concussion protocol), Kevan Miller (lower body)

     

    First Period:

    Blues Penalty – 6:27 – Vince Dunn 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Bruins Penalty – 17:22 – Brad Marchand 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 1st – STL – 0       BOS – 0

    Shots              08                17

    Faceoffs         11                04

    Hits               17                  21

    PP                 0/1                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    Blues Goal – :55 – Ryan O’Reilly (6) from Zach Sanford (3) and Alex Pietrangelo (14)

    Blues Penalty – 9:25 – David Perron 2 minutes for Interference

     

    End of 2nd – STL – 1        BOS – 0

    Shots               14                 25

    Faceoffs          24                 15

    Hits                 29                  35

    PP                   0/1                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Blues Penalty – 3:09 – Alexander Steen 2 minutes for Interference

    Blues Goal – 10:36 – David Perron (7) from Ryan O’Reilly (14)

    Bruins Goal – 13:32 – Jake DeBrusk (4) from Torey Krug (15)

     

    End of 3rd – STL – 2         BOS – 1

    Shots              21                   39

    Faceoffs        38                    26

    Hits               34                     43

    PP                 0/1                    0/3

     

    Next Up:

    Game 6 – STL Leads 3-2

     

    Thank you for following TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

     

    TXHT’s Stanley Cup Finals coverage sponsored by:

    4380127

  • Stanley Cup Final Game 4 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Stanley Cup Final Game 4 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Game 4 – BOS Leads 2-1

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 4 the St. Louis Blues are looking to erase the bad taste in their mouth from Game 3 when the Boston Bruins came into their home and dismantled them 7-2 to take the 2-1 series lead, and the Blues would deliver early when Ryan O’Reilly would pick up the rebound and wrap it around the net and past Tuukka Rask 43 seconds into the game for the quick 1-0 lead. Then later in the period the Bruins would respond as Charlie Coyle would pick up a Zdeno Chara rebound in front of the net and get it past Jordan Binnington to tie the game at one a piece. However, the game would not remain tied for long as the Blues would continue pushing and it would be Vladimir Tarasenko picking up an Alex Pietrangelo rebound in the slot and wristing it past Rask to reclaim the lead 2-1.

     

    In the second period we would have a slew of penalties with the first two creating a lot of momentum for the Blues, but no powerplay goals would be scored. However, while the Blues were on their second powerplay opportunity the Bruins would create an offensive opportunity that would see Brandon Carlo score his first of the playoffs when he would one time the rebound past Binnington who had no chance on the play. Going into the second period it would be tied 2-2.

     

    In the third period we would see both teams trade powerplay opportunities that would once again see no one take advantage of them, but it would be the Blues half way through the period as Ryan O’Reilly would score his second of the game to break to 2-2 tie and give the Blues the lead back. then with the goalie pulled Brayden Schenn would strip the puck off of the Bruins defender and send the puck into the empty net to ice the game at 4-2, and tie the series at two a piece.

     

    Lineups:

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    John Moore — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

    Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) Chris Wagner (concussion protocol), Kevan Miller (lower body)

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Sammy Blais

    Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Carl Gunnarsson

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso

    Injured: Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

     

    First Period:

    Blues Goal – :43 – Ryan O’Reilly (4) from Zach Sanford (2) and Vince Dunn (6)

    Bruins Goal – 13:14 – Charlie Coyle (9) from Zdeno Chara (4)

    Blues Goal – 15:30 – Vladimir Tarasenko (11) from Alex Pietrangelo (12) and Brayden Schenn (7)

     

    End of 1st – BOS – 1       STL – 2

    Shots              09                13

    Faceoffs         15                13

    Hits               16                  24

    PP                 0/0                 0/0

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 5:47 – Charlie Coyle 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Blues Penalty – 8:31 – Colton Parayko 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Bruins Penalty – 13:53 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Illegal Check to the Head

    Bruins SHG – 14:19 – Brandon Carlo (1) from Patrice Bergeron (8) and Brad Marchand (13)

     

    End of 2nd – BOS – 2        STL – 2

    Shots               18                 25

    Faceoffs          24                 25

    Hits                 29                  32

    PP                   0/1                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 2:08 – Danton Heinen 2 minutes from Tripping

    Blues Penalty – 6:42 – Jay Bouwmeester 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Blues Goal – 10:38 – Ryan O’Reilly (5) from Alex Pietrangelo (13) and Carl Gunnarsson (2)

    Blues ENG – 18:31 – Brayden Schenn (4) from unassisted

    Blues Penalty – 19:34 – Jay Bouwmeester 2 minutes for Elbowing

    Bruuins Penalty – 13:34 – Torey Krug 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 3rd – BOS – 2         STL – 4

    Shots              23                   38

    Faceoffs        31                    34

    Hits               41                     44

    PP                 0/2                    0/3

     

    Next Up:

    Game 5 – Series Tied 2-2

     

    Thank you for following TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

     

    TXHT’s Stanley Cup Finals coverage sponsored by:

    4380127

  • St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 2 Recap

    St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 2 Recap

    Game Recap:

    The Blues came out from the gate determined to not hang their goalie Jordan Binnington out to dry like they did some many times in game one and it worked. The Blues came out and pressured in the first part of the period and scored the only goalie thanks to Blues potential Conn Smythe Candidate Jaden Schwartz. But the Blues couldn’t keep the Sharks at bay and they stormed back in the second half of the period with some pressure but couldn’t solve Binnington who I am sure was determined not to have another game like game 1.

    The 2nd period would be the Logan Couture show as the penalties would begin to ramp up against San Jose, St.Louis would score once via Vince Dunn but Couture would score a goal Short-Handed to get the Sharks on the board and then would score less than 2 minutes later to tie the game at two apiece in the second period. But the Blues wouldn’t just lay down and die with less than 4 minutes left in the second tough guy defencemen Robert Bortuzzo would score to reinstate the St. Louis Blues lead heading into the 3rd period.

    The 3rd period would be a swapping of penalties for both teams as they would both end up with no powerplay goals on the night. But with the Sharks pressing for the tying goal late the Blues Oskar Sundqvist would give the Blues some insurance with just over 3 minutes remaining and eventually seal the series tie at one apiece.

    Lineups:

    St. Louis

    Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais – Ryan O’Reilly – David Perron

    Pat Maroon – Tyler Bozak – Christian Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev – Oskar Sundqvist – Alex Steen

     

    Joel Edmundson – Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn – Robert Bortuzzo

     

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: None

    Injuries: Carl Gunnarsson (Upper Body)

     

    San Jose

    Scratched:  None

    Injuries: Radek Simek

     

    GameDay:

    First Period:

    St.Louis Goal – 2:34 – Jaden Schwartz (10) assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko (2) and Joel Edmundson (4)

    San Jose Penalty – 4:04 – Tomas Hertl, 2 minutes for Tripping

    St. Louis Penalty – 6:34 – Jay Bouwmeester, 2 minutes for Tripping

    San Jose Penalty – 15:46 – Evander Kane, 2 minutes for Tripping

    End of 1st – STL – 1      SJS – 0

    Shots              6                  9

    Faceoffs        6/17          11/17

    Hits                12                9

    PP                 0/2                 0/1

    Second Period:

    St. Louis Goal – 4:16 – Vince Dunn (2) assisted by Ryan O’Reilly (8) and David Perron (5)

    San Jose Penalty – 4:42 – Marcus Sorenson, 2 minutes for Interference

    San Jose SH Goal – 4:55 – Logan Couture (12) unassisted

    San Jose Goal – 6:54 – Logan Couture (13) assisted by Timo Meier (8)

    St. Louis Goal – 16:34 – Robert Bortuzzo (1) assisted by Joel Edmundson (5) and Tyler Bozak (5)

    San Jose Penalty – 19:31- Brendan Dillion, 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    End of 2nd – STL – 3      SJS – 2

    Shots               15                15

    Faceoffs       15/36           21/36

    Hits                24                  18

    PP                   0/4                  0/1

    Third Period:

    St. Louis Penalty – 10:37 – Robert Thomas, 2 minutes for Hooking

    San Jose Penalty – 12:42 – Joe Thornton, 2 minutes for Tripping

    St. Louis Goal – 16:52 – Oskar Sundqvist (3) assisted by Alex Steen (2) and Alex Pietrangelo (10)

    End of 3rd – STL – 4         SJS- 2

    Shots              25                26

    Faceoffs      23/54         31/54

    Hits              35                 28

    PP                 0/5                0/2

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 1 Recap

    St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 1 Recap

    Game Recap:

    The Sharks opened the game with putting it all on the table as Logan Couture put the Sharks on board early. Schwartz would reply later on in the 3rd tying the game at one. But the Sharks would reply again on the powerplay thanks to the Captain Joe Pavelski. Making the score 2-1 Sharks after one.

    The 2nd period would be another bad one for the St. Louis Blues. The Sharks would score 3 more goals to the Blues 1 and then the Blues would take a few more penalties. The same seemed so much out of reach.

    The 3rd period would be a swapping of goals between the Blues and Sharks. A brawl would ensue at the end of the game and a lot of penalties. Expect the Blue to come out with a big game 2.

    Lineups:

    St. Louis

    Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais – Ryan O’Reilly – David Perron

    Pat Maroon – Tyler Bozak – Christian Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev – Oskar Sundqvist – Alex Steen

     

    Joel Edmundson – Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn – Robert Bortuzzo

     

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: None

    Injuries: Carl Gunnarsson (Upper Body)

     

    San Jose

    Scratched:  None

    Injuries: Radek Simek

     

    GameDay:

    First Period:

    San Jose Goal – 3:31 – Logan Couture (10) assisted by Gustav Nyquist (8) and Timo Meier (8)

    St.Louis Goal – 9:13 – Jaden Schwartz (9) assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko (1) and Brayden Schenn (4)

    St. Louis Penalty – 9:36 – Jay Bouwmeester, 2 minutes for Interference

    San Jose PP Goal – 11:24 – Joe Pavelski (4) assisted by Brent Burns (10) and Erik Karlsson (13)

    St. Louis Penalty – 10:33 – Colton Paryako, 2 minutes for Slashing

    End of 1st – STL – 1      SJS – 2

    Shots              10              9

    Faceoffs        11/27          16/27

    Hits                22                13

    PP                 0/1                 1/2

    Second Period:

    St. Louis Penalty – 2:57 – Tyler Bozak, 2 minutes for Hooking

    San Jose Goal – 7:41 – Kevin Labanc (4) assisted by Joe Thornton (5)

    St. Louis Goal – 8:58 – Ryan O’Reilly (3) assisted by Logan Couture (6)

    San Jose Goal – 10:24 – Timo Meier (4) assisted by Joe Thornton (5)

    San Jose Penalty – 13:23 – Melker Karlsson, 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    San Jose Goal – 17:34 – Timo Meier (5) assisted by Marc-Edouard Vlasic (4) and Gustav Nyquist

    End of 2nd – STL – 2      SJS – 5

    Shots               19                20

    Faceoffs        21/51           30/51

    Hits                35                  25

    PP                   0/1                  1/3

    Third Period:

    St. Louis Goal – 13:01 – Tyler Bozak (3) assisted by Pat Maroon (2) and Vince Dunn (5)

    San Jose Goal – 17:39 – Logan Couture (11) assisted by Joe Pavelski (4) and Evander Kane (6)

    St. Louis Penalty – 17:55 – Robert Bortuzzo, 5 minutes for Fighting

    San Jose Penalty – 17:55 – Barclay Goodrow, 5 minutes for Fighting

    St. Louis Penalty – 17:55 – Robert Bertuzzo, 2 minutes for Roughing

    San Jose Penalty – 17:55 – Brandon Dillion, 2 minutes for Roughing

    St. Louis Penalty – 17:55 – Robert Bortuzzo, Game Misconduct

    San Jose Penalty – 17:55 – Barclay Goodrow, Game Misconduct

    End of 3rd – STL – 3         SJS- 6

    Shots              31                25

    Faceoffs      31/73         42/73

    Hits              41                 35

    PP                 0/1                1/4

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 2 – St. Louis Blues v. Winnipeg Jets

    Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 2 – St. Louis Blues v. Winnipeg Jets

    The Blues experienced a much different start of the game in Game 2, with Oskar Sundqvist scoring early on to take a 1-0 lead. The Blues spent the majority of the first 10 minutes on the power play because of a few rather egregious cross-checks by the Jets, but  were not able to capitalize. When Colton Parayko was not aware that penalty time was expiring and had his shot blocked, Blake Wheeler took advantage and quickly scored to tie it at one. Overall, not a great period, given the opportunities the Blues had.

    The Jets came out flying in the second, and basically dominated the first several minutes, but for a few spectacular saves from Jordan Binnington. After Robert Bortuzzo took a senseless, senseless interference penalty, the Blues, naturally, left Patrick Laine completely open for another goal to give the Jets a 2-1 lead. The Jets kept up their inexorable pressure after, but an incredible play by Robert Thomas led to a Pat Maroon goal to make it 2-2. Sundqvist’s second goal gave them a 3-2 lead – soft goal by Connor Hellebuyck, who has not been nearly good enough this series. Now seems like a good time for a friendly reminder that the Blues traded Ryan Reaves for Sundqvist and high-potential prospect Klim Kostin, which…wow.

    Play evened out after that, with Hellebuyck making a tremendous (see: lucky) save on O’Reilly to keep the blues from taking a 4-2 lead. Shortly thereafter, a (weak) penalty call on Robert Thomas led to another WPG PP goal to tie it at 3.

    WPG was controlling play pretty well at the beginning of the third, but another soft goal, this time by Ryan O’Reilly allowed the Blues to take a 4-3 lead. The rest of the game can pretty much be summed up with this: Jordan Binnington was incredible.

    2-0. Back to STL Sunday at 7:30 Eastern