– Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images
It was St. Patrick’s Day, but this game was all blue.
St. Louis continued its winning ways with a 4-0 victory against the Calgary Flames powered by goals from Alexander Steen, Jori Lehtera and David Backes.
The win puts St. Louis’s road win streak to three games, and the Blues are now tied for third in the league with 21 road wins, which is just three wins shy of their total last season.
The win moves the Blues’ record to 45-20-5 for 95 points giving St. Louis sole possession of first place in the Central Division with two games at hand to the Predators and one point ahead of Nashville.
Offensively, the main production came from the top unit of St. Louis as Steen netted a pair of goals helping the Blues to victory.
At the other end of the ice, Brian Elliott got the start and stopped all 25 shots faced after Allen recorded a 28-save shutout in the previous game against Dallas. This marks the first time all season the Blues have shut out opponents in back-to-back games.
After a scoreless first period, Steen helped break the 0-0 tie. David Backes sent a cross-ice pass across the neutral zone picked up by Steen into the zone. Steen carried the puck and fired a snap shot high past the glove of Jonas Hiller. The goal is Steen’s 21st of the season and put the Blues out in front with 8:28 remaining in the second period.
In the third period, the Blues added to their lead. Vladamir Tarasenko intercepted T.J. Brodie’s attempted pass behind the Calgary net. Tarasenko then found Jaden Schwartz in by the high-slot area. Schwartz one-timed a pass to Lehtera who scored low past Hiller’s left pad giving the Blues a two-goal lead just over a minute into the period.
Later in the third period, Steen added some insurance for St. Louis. In the attacking zone, Backes won the face off against Mikael Backlund to T.J. Oshie who tipped the puck back to Steen who took a slap shot past Hiller for his 22nd of the season. The goal marked Steen’s third multi-goal game of the season and his fourth point in just two games.
David Backes added one final goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third period to help St. Louis get the win.
The Blues will look to continue their success on the road against the Winnipeg Jets Thursday, Mar. 19 at 7 p.m. CT.
