ST. LOUIS -- When Vladimir Tarasenko took less than three minutes to score in his New York Rangers debut Friday, it only strengthened the position of those that put their input into the trade on Thursday with the Blues calling it a fleecing.
OK, yes, let's be honest. In the here and the now, trading Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola and re-acquiring forward Sammy Blais, a defensive fourth-round prospect named Hunter Skinner, a 2023 conditional first-round pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick doesn't sound juicy for the Blues, but it did bring back Blais, a hometown favorite who always held a sentimental hold on St. Louis and the Blues who had two tough seasons in the Big Apple.
So with Tarasenko scoring in his first game, what could Blais do for an encore? There was only one way to match it, but it would take something he hadn't done since 2021.
After all, Blais had gone 56 straight regular-season games over two seasons without scoring a goal, including all 54 he played with the Rangers in a season and a half after tearing the ACL in his right knee last season.
If Tarasenko could score, why couldn't Blais?
He didn't disappoint.
In his first game back in St. Louis since the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Blais needed more than Tarasenko's 2:49 into New York's game, but he scored a big one, a breakaway goal at 17:19 of the second period that tied the game 2-2 of a crazy 6-5 overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday at Enterprise Center on a game-winner by Ryan O'Reilly.
Blais, who scored 17 goals in four seasons to begin his NHL career with the Blues after they selected him in the sixth round of the 2014 NHL Draft, took a long stretch pass from Nick Leddy and went in on a breakaway, going forehand before depositing a backhand high into the net over Coyotes goalie Karel Vejmelka. He pumped his fist as teammates came to congratulate him after scoring a goal that had to remove the largest gorilla off his back.
His last regular-season goal was May 1, 2021 in a 4-3 overtime loss at the Minnesota Wild, but his last goal in the NHL of any kind came May 19, 2021 against the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs.
"It felt really good," Blais said. "My first goal of the season obviously. Coming back to St. Louis and scoring in my first game, I couldn't have asked for better than that.
"I can't even describe it. It was just a nice pass by Leddy. Just happy I got this one out of the way and I'll just keep moving forward."
Going to a new team is always an adjustment for a player, but for Blais, it was as if his life was just put on hold for two years and now he can hit resume, and everything from systems to coaches to teammates had to have a familiar feel.
Blais finished with 11:34 of ice time with three shots on goal and three hits.
"Great goal coming out of the box, nice play picking that puck up and then a great move," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "'Blaiser' played a good game. He had some good looks on the power play tonight, too. I thought he did a good job on the power play. Overall, I was pleased with him.
"And he feels comfortable here with the guys. He was here for a while, very comfortable and happy to be here. That’s a big thing. He was happy to get back here and it was good to see him get a goal tonight."
Blais added, "I pretty much know everyone here, so it was a pretty easy transition. Chief and Otter just told me to play my game, just to have fun out there and that's what I did tonight and it worked out for me. I'm really happy."
It was pretty predictable that Berube would insert Blais and his line with Noel Acciari and Ivan Barbashev into the starting lineup, and when his name was announced by Tom Calhoun, there was a rather elevated crowd response to someone they remember well that helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019.
"I've always loved playing here and in my heart, I never should have left, but it's always a business," Blais said. "I was just happy and they're the greatest fans in the league, so I'm just happy to be back here and help this team win.
"These fans have always been really good. When we had our Cup run, they were always behind us. Just to be back here tonight and get that loud scream from the fans was unreal."
People are going to come to their conclusions about who won this trade or who won that trade, but for Blais, he was just happy to be home, and it showed.
"Absolutely. That was a huge goal for us, too, to tie the game up like that," O'Reilly said. "That’s tough. Jumping in, new system and everything. Obviously he’s been here before but still. It’s a different team.
"And he comes in and makes an impact like that. That’s huge for us. He did a lot of good things tonight."
Not only tonight, but Blais was finally able to get that dress shirt(s) he was in search of purchasing in New York on Thursday before learning he was being dealt back to St. Louis. He was at Plaza Frontenac on Friday and was able to buy one to start, but knows he'll need more.
"I did, white one," Blais said. "I'll go back. I was in a rush a little bit."