Instant Analysis: Blues Rally For Much-Needed Win, 5-3 Over Blue Jackets

ST. LOUIS – There were already noises coming from restless St. Louis Blues fans that the start to this season was looking an awful lot like last year.

Slow start, ineffective, lack of work, lack of production from top people. You name it, people were spitting it out.

The St. Louis Blues needed a win on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and they did it the hard way by rallying from a two-goal deficit to win, 5-3 at Enterprise Center.

Let’s break down the key points to the game …

* Second-period rally fueled by Ross Johnston – The fourth-line winger wasn’t signed by the Blues this past summer to win them games on the offensive stat sheet. The 32-year-old was brought in to contribute like he did on Saturday, by stepping to the plate and stoking positive energy into a group that needed it.

The Blues were not good in the opening period. They were outshot 10-4 and outscored by the Jackets (2-2-0), who were on the second of a back-to-back after a 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, by a 2-0 margin.

Sloppy coverage following a lost face-off allowed Valeri Nichushkin to tip home the first goal, and Kent Johnson converted a coverage breakdown play with 12 seconds left in the period, beating Jordan Binnington, and there were a few hushed boos from the crowd seeing a lack of execution and effort to end the period.

But something that had the earmarks of happening to begin the game materialized in the first minute of the second when Johnston and Mathieu Olivier, one of the toughest customers in the league, dropped the gloves and scrapped near the penalty boxes.

It wasn’t a bout where both toughies were throwing haymakers at one another, but it seemed to inject life into the home side, in particular, and breathed life into the 18,096 in attendance:

“Hundred percent,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. ‘For whatever reason, we had a slow start tonight. We really didn't start the second like gangbusters. I don't know if we win that game last year. That's how much of an impact he's had, and on the bench, it doesn't matter if he's playing or if he's not playing, he is saying the right things about how we should play. That's why everywhere he's been, they've won because he's either learned it or it's natural for him.”

Nobody saw it coming either.

“No. I feel like that stuff kind of just happens,” said Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who scored twice in the second. ‘It’s not a super fun position to play because you have to take a beating, but he did it for the guys in this room. We tried to help him and return the favor. We thought we did so, well.”

The Blues responded with goals by Jake Neighbours at 6:21 to make it a 2-1 game:

Then Snuggerud went to work, tying the game 2-2 at 9:02 off a Philip Broberg rush along the left wall:

And then a 3-2 goal by Snuggerud off a D-zone rush that culminated with a quick snap shot through traffic from a sharp angle that beat Jet Greaves to the far side at 12:32:

“I think it was a lot of Ross Johnston honestly,” Snuggerud said. “We were pretty low and he took on Olivier and that brought our bench energy and it was for sure the reason that the game turned around like that.”

But the Johnston fight set the tone for what was a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

“I think just attitude changes a little bit to attack more,” Blues forward Jonatan Berggren said. “We got a little bit more hungry around the net. The first period was a little bit slow and after the Ross bout, I think we did a good job with that.”

Said Blues forward Dylan Holloway, who had his first three points of the season (all assists) on the night, “Big credit to Ross Johnston, ‘The Boss’ we call him, to step up and to fight Olivier like that in front of the crowd, that got us going quite a bit. We were all super-pumped about it. He’s a big-time leader on our team, he’s vocal, he plays the right way. To have the courage to do that is big for our team and I think we responded great to that. I think that’s what turned it around.”

* Berggren blossoming – The Blues had surrendered the tying goal in the third period when Cole Sillinger picked up a loose puck near the crease and squirted a shot through Jordan Binnington’s pads at 6:51 of the third period. It had earmarks of potentially another collapsed result.

But Berggren, who has been elevated to the second line with Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael, scored at 9:33 to make it 4-3 after getting tripped by Olivier in the neutral zone, and on the ensuing delayed penalty, instead of accepting that a power play was coming, he got to his skates, went directly to the net and finished a rebound after Greaves had robbed McTavish on the doorstep:

“No, we’ll take a goal instead,” Berggren said. “Lucky bounce, but I think as a team deserved to win. Lucky we got one.

“We’re trying to skate a lot and I think we’re doing a great job with that. ‘Pary’ went in around the net and make a play to ‘Mac,’ and the puck just bounced to me. A little bit of luck, but I’ll take it.”

Montgomery said, “That is just incredible, hard work. He tracks the puck and then makes a move, draws a penalty and then he’s at the net front in a dirty area. He’s quietly having a good start to the year.”

* Top line finally rewarded – They had been close, so close that they could taste it. But the only results were frustration.

Coming into the game, Snuggerud, Holloway and Robert Thomas combined for two points (Snuggerud’s one goal, one assist in the season-opener). They have had opportunities, but pucks just haven’t gone their way.

They did on Saturday.

“I think it’s big,” Snuggerud said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in the year. Wasn’t a great start honestly. We know that as a line. I think it was a massive game to get going.

“It was kind of just the one foot away the past four games. It was right there and we just couldn’t complete. In the NHL, it’s all about execution and I thought we did that tonight.”

You could see frustrating moments from all three leading up to the game.

“I think the expectation before the season was to kind of pick up where we left off last year and when it didn’t happen right away, we kind of got away from our game a little bit,” Holloway said. “We didn’t get back to the simple things that made our line click. We just had to be a little more patient. Last game I thought we were playing well. As a line, we hit three posts. Like, we knew it was coming. It was nice to see that come together tonight and hopefully for the rest of the season.

“I definitely want to produce and help the team win. I wasn’t scoring there for the first couple games and we weren’t winning and I wasn’t scoring. It’s not a good feeling. It’s just a process at the end of the day. You’ve just got to stick with the process. If you play simple, if you play the right way, then the points will hopefully follow and that’s just kind of the recipe I’ll focus on from here on out.”

Montgomery said the results came as a result of what they were doing off the puck. They were having good sticks, knocking plays down, transitioning as a result of good defensive play. It all fueled offense.

“It’s the way they did it. Good defense led to their offense and usually when you’re not getting results, you’re cutting corners there and I think they were all, I don’t know what they were, but they were all minus into tonight,” Montgomery said. ‘I think they were all like plus-2 or something like that. Holloway might have been plus-3 because he had three assists. So it was a good night for them, but it was a good night for a lot of people.”

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