– Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images
Despite injury shortfalls, St. Louis topped the Calgary Flames 4-1.
The team’s point leaders, Vladamir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen, both missed the game due to injury and are listed as day-to-day.
However, without Steen and Tarasenko, the Blues did not miss a beat on offense as the Blues’ new top line of Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie and Paul Stastny combined for five points in the win. St. Louis also outshot the Flames by a margin of 43 to 18.
On the other end of the ice, Jake Allen got his first start since Mar. 24 and stopped 17 out of 18 shots for his 20th win of the season.
With the win, the Blues remain second in the Central Division with a record of 47-23-7 with 101 points. Chicago trails by one point while Nashville leads the division by two points. For the second straight season, St. Louis has reached the 100 point mark, which is the first time since the 1999-2001 stretch.
The offense got rolling early as the Blues jumped out to an early lead thanks the newly made first line. Oshie battled with TJ Brodie along the side boards in the attacking end as Schwartz helped with Lance Bouma on his back. Schwartz came out with control of the puck and moved in along the goal line before lifting a back-hand shot over Jonas Hiller making it 1-0 Blues just 1:16 into the game.
The first line kept the goals coming in the second period, but this time on the power play. Following a turnover by Calgary, Stastny carried the puck into the zone before giving it to Schwartz who sent a pass through the diving Kris Russell to David Backes. Backes hesitated, drawing Hiller further out from the net before finding Stastny with a back-door pass to give St. Louis a two-goal edge.
But Calgary was able to respond later in the period as Sean Monahan notched his 30th goal of the season. Jiri Hudler sent a hard pass to the top of the slot where Monahan was able to redirect the pass over Allen, cutting the lead to one after two periods of play.
The Blues got back on track in the third period. Patrik Berglund got a good stick lift to take the puck away from Drew Shore. Berglund shielded the puck around the net and sent a wrap around on Hiller who made the first stop. Fortunately for St. Louis, Jori Lehtera was there to clean up the rebound making it 3-1 Blues with under five minutes remaining in regulation.
Berglund then added an empty net later in the game for his second multi-point night in three games, which helped St. Louis to victory.
The Blues will look to keep up this momentum on the road Friday, Apr. 3 against the Dallas Stars. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
