ST. LOUIS -- It could have gone completely south for the St. Louis Blues early Thursday.
A chance to take control of their 2-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes right from the get-go with a power play that's desperately crying out for success turned into a resounding thud.
The Blues (6-5-1) were gift-wrapped a four-minute power-play by a boneheaded move by Coyotes forward Liam O'Brien, for whatever reason, lost it on a check by Sammy Blais and went after him, then a boarding penalty on defenseman Matt Dumba that gave the Blues a full two-man advantage.
As poorly as it looked and Arizona came out of it unscathed, the wheels could have come off. And even when Arizona predictably tied the game on their first power-play, the Blues managed to hold things together despite a paltry power-play that went 0-for-7 and continues to be a league-worst 2.9 percent (1-for-35).
The Blues had to grind their way to a win, and somehow managed to do it.
Let's take a look at the three keys that helped the Blues grind out this win:
1. Didn't lose momentum -- Seven power plays is supposed to at some point give a team momentum The Blues don't get that memo on a game-by-game basis somehow.
They led 1-0 early on an Oskar Sundqvist goal (we'll get to that in the third key) and could have put a stranglehold on two points early.
But after coming out of the first tied 1-1 and holding a 15-3 shots advantage and four missed opportunities on the power play, the Blues managed to build it back up in the 5-on-5 game.
"Overall, solid effort by everybody," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We talked on the bench, in the room about, 'Don't let the frustration build. Let's put it behind us and keep playing the way we're playing 5-on-5.' I thought the guys did a good job of that."
2. Defensive zone play was solid -- The Coyotes had little offensive zone time because they spent a lot of the game having to kill penalties.
But when Arizona did, especially in the third period with 10 shots on goal and Joel Hofer doing his part, defensively the Blues played well. They checked, they closed out plays, forced the puck to the perimeters and not allow much interior play inside the dots.
"We played a solid game," Berube said. "... I thought we defended well. I would have liked us to control the third a little bit."
Led by their defensive corps of Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, Torey Krug, Nick Leddy, Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich, the Blues found a way. The forwards committed themselves on the defensive end when the power play continues to be a dumpster fire.
"A lot of guys made some really smart plays and really committed to that game," said Blues center Robert Thomas, who scored in his fifth straight game. "That's why we were able to hold on to the win."
3. Pierre Lambert -- It was inadvertent, nothing he could do about it, but referee Pierre Lambert helped the Blues with Sundqvist's opening goal.
The play developed with Jakub Vrana, who had a strong game, skating around the net on his backhand with the puck looking to pass back to the Sammy Blais at the outer edge of the left circle, but the puck either hit Lambert or he stepped on it, causing him to trip and taking out Arizona rookie Logan Cooley in the process.
Blais was able to take the puck to the net strong, and Sundqvist was there to tap in a loose puck in the crease for a 1-0 Blues lead at 2:16.
A little bit of luck turned out to go a long way in a one-goal victory.
