Playing the second of back-to-back games against the NHL's leader in points heading into the night, the St. Louis Blues were going to have to withstand an early storm against the Vancouver Canucks in order to get to that elusive four games over .500.
And once they did, someone had to provide the pick-me-up, and Jake Neighbours did just that.
The 21-year-old finally jumpstarted the Blues with a goal and an assist in the first period, after it looked like the Canucks would get the lead early.
Neighbours had his motor going and fueled the start, helping the Blues (24-20-2) recover for a 4-3 overtime win at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.
What really stood out to me for Neighbours was his ability to protect pucks and make smart, wise decisions with it. Never mind putting himself in a soft shooting area to get the Blues on the board first, then making a nice, subtle play to find Pavel Buchnevich on the backside for a tap-in goal, but Neighbours was good at making wise decisions when Vancouver (32-11-5) had multiple shifts in this game with sustained offensive zone time.
Neighbours was a plus-1 and was called for what looked like a weak cross-checking penalty in the second period that negated a Brayden Schenn goal that would have made it 3-0, and he did so with 16:05 of ice time, four shot attempts (two on goal), a hit and two blocks.
