The first two periods were chippy, but neither team could pump-in a goal. However, the Blues took 21 shots and the Bruins took 26—not bad.
One of those shots was stopped in fashion. Allen blocked the Bruins’ initial shot from the point, but the rebound was a big one. It slid to Brad Marchand, who flung a backhand towards the open net. Allen sprawled to his left and clobbered the shot to keep it scoreless.
The third period was fun.
Ryan Reaves started it by dropping the gloves with Tyler Randell. It was his second fight of the week, but only his second of the season. In some form, he mentioned he hasn’t been playing the way he used to, but he realizes that’s the type of play we need from him. Expect more fights from Reavo.
That fight gave the bench a boost of energy.
Magnus Paajarvi thought about skating into the zone, but brought his head up to see Tarasenko open with a foot past the defenders. He hit him with a pass, and Vlad scored his 22nd goal of the season.
About midway through the third, Alex Pietrangelo caught the Bruins on the change with Robby Fabbri open by their blue line. Fabbri received the pass, then snapped it top-right to make it 2-0.
Unlike Monday night, the Blues kept their lead in a 2-0 victory.
There was a total of 66 hits (Blues-34, Bruins-32) last night. Allen stopped all 32 shots faced.
The win keeps the Blues second in the Central Division, but puts them third in the league. The Stars (1st) and Capitals (2nd) are the only teams ahead of them.
The Blues get a break, but they play the red-hot Stars back-to-back after Christmas (Dec. 26-27).
