Photo by: AP Photo/Gary Wiepert
After beating the Buffalo Sabres a week earlier, the St. Louis Blues earned another win to their name with a 2-1 victory against Buffalo on the road.
Goals by Troy Brouwer and Robby Fabbri in the third period as well as 24 stops on 25 shots faced by Jake Allen helped the Blues to victory.
This game also marked the first for Paul Stastny after missing 16 games with a broken foot. Stastny logged 19:37 time on ice, second among forwards for the Blues, and tallied one shot and a hit in his return.
With the win, St. Louis improves to 14-6-2, which is good for 30 points. The Blues are now four points behind the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division, but the Stars have a game at hand.
After a scoreless first period, Buffalo got on the board first in the second period.
Josh Gorges dumped the puck in on net as Allen turned the attempt to the corner. Nicolas Deslauriers and Kyle Brodziak battled for possession in the corner as the puck squirted to David Legwand below the goal line. Allen lost track of the puck as he turned to his left, and Legwand sneaked it under Allen’s right pad along the right post for the goal. The mark put Buffalo out in front with 3:15 remaining in the second period.
After being held off the board for 45 minutes and 7 seconds, St. Louis finally broke through.
A good stick lift by David Backes allowed Backes to gain possession in the offensive zone and pass it to Kevin Shattenkirk at the point. Shattenkirk held the puck for a moment as he drifted to the middle of the ice before sending a low wrist shot on net. Zach Bogosian blocked the shot in front, but Brouwer was able to get free and score to tie the game at one.
The Blues weren’t done in the third period as the rookie, Fabbri, tallied his third of the year.
Good work by Brouwer to the side of the net allowed him to get the puck to the point for Jay Bouwmeester. Bouwemeester slapped a shot toward the net that deflected off one defender into Linus Ullmark. The rebound popped right around in front where it pin-balled around before bouncing off Fabbri and into the net to put St. Louis in front for good.
The Blues will be back in action on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday, Nov. 25. Puck drop from the CONSOL Energy Center is set for 6 p.m.
