Instant Analysis: Blues Snap Three-Game Skid With 3-2 Win Over Red Wings

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery wanted to see his team play faster in the offensive zone, wanted to see more assertion with the puck, being able to retrieve it and make opposing defenders work harder to get the puck.

It’s part of what’s been hampering the team in losing three straight (0-2-1) heading into a matchup with the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

It wasn’t easy in the end, but the Blues were able to end their mini slide while extending Detroit’s losing streak to four in a row with a 3-2 win at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.

Jimmy Snuggerud’s team-leading 10th goal of the season late in the third period proved to be the difference; he also had an assist. Pius Suter and Justin Barron each scored, and Joel Hofer made 30 saves for the Blues, who got back to .500 at 8-8-2.

Let’s look at the key moments from the Blues’ fifth win in eight home games (5-2-1).

* That’s how the Blues need to play, at least the first two periods. Can they now sustain it? – The Blues talked about possessing more pucks, winning more battles, winning the net front, making the opposition defend more. Those were all evident signs in the first period.

Had it not been for Detroit goalie John Gibson robbing former Red Wings draft pick Jonatan Berggren with the paddle early in the period and a couple other key saves, it could have been a comfortable lead for St. Louis.

Yeah, the Blues made a mistake by icing the puck late in the period (Cam Fowler). Yes, they didn’t win the D-zone face-off, and yes, the Red Wings grabbed a 1-0 lead on Andrew Copp’s redirection of a Ben Chiarot left point shot with 12.3 seconds left in the period.

Late period goals like that tend to deflate teams, but the Blues felt good about the way they were playing.

“That was the messaging between periods is that we thought we had a really good period,” Montgomery said. ‘We were playing north, we were playing vertical. We weren’t passing up shots, we were getting to hard areas and we felt it was just a matter of time before it would come and the Suter line started off the second period with great fashion. Another rimmed puck to a forecheck, a couple bodies out, then we cycle it and then we get it to the crease and we bang home a puck.

“I really liked the way we started the game, I thought our first 40 minutes might have been our best first 40 minutes of the year.”

The Blues had a good start to the hockey game on Saturday too in a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators but this time, stuck with it.

“I think we were from the get-go we were moving our legs, getting pucks, shooting pucks deep and kind of rolled them,” Suter said. “I think it was one of our best games regarding that. I think we had a lot of O-zone time and that tired them out and at the end of shifts, get some chances.

“I think we felt good about our first until that goal. I think we played them down low and did a good job on the blue lines and obviously just keep going at them and get two goals quickly, that was a nice reward to the play we played in the first.”

Barron added, “I thought that was probably one of our better games in terms of starts and first periods. Obviously they got one at the end of the first period there, but I liked the way we responded at the start of the second. We got right back to kind of how we finished the first period.”

“We knew if played like that for a full 60 minutes, we were going to have success. I thought we did a good job of just buying into that tonight.”

* Two quick goals reward for solid first period – And with that, the Blues were rewarded quickly, with goals by Suter and Barron 1:57 apart to forge ahead 2-1.

Suter struck 37 seconds into the second after his linemates Alexey Toropchenko and specifically, Ross Johnston, won a wall battle, got the puck down low to Toropchenko, and the forward moved it towards the net and put a puck through the crease for Suter to finish on the backside for his 100th NHL goal and 200th point:

“You always try and get something going,” Suter said. “Get pucks back and then hold the line and low-to-high and just get them on net, especially our line. Ross is such a big presence in front of the net. He makes the other guys try to move him and so we always have somebody at the net.”

Montgomery has been utilizing Suter’s line to begin periods more frequently here. Why?

“They’ve given us an identity of playing to how we want to play,” Montgomery said. ‘They go out and play a simple game and they execute it well and it’s a great illustration to the next lines that are coming up that this is how we go wave after wave.”

Suter said, “I think the last few games have been kind of what we want to do. It gets the team some momentum and start the period right and set the tone a little bit and I think we are kind of finding that groove a little bit.”

* Barron keeps earning his wings – The defenseman, claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators, continues to shine.

His goal came as a result of him jumping into a rush for a 3-on-2 and finishing off the arm and leg of Gibson at 2:34 to make it 2-1, converting a Robert Thomas pass:

“I just saw we had numbers,” Barron said. “I thought we did a good job killing plays in the D-zone tonight. It just allows us to get into our rush game. I saw numbers, tried to drive the middle lane and ‘Tommer’ made a great play into the middle and put one on net.”

Barron now has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 15 Blues games after just nine assists in 52 games with the Predators last season. His fit with a team that likes to play aggressively with its defensemen has been a perfect fit.

“He’s done it long enough to think this is the best version of him,” Montgomery said of Barron. “He wasn’t a first-round pick by mistake. That’s clear by his talent, and now he’s just putting it all together and it’s awesome watching someone blossom like that. Again, great job by our pro scouts.”

Barron has done such a solid job. So solid that the team assigned first-round picks Theo Lindstein and Adam Jiricek to Springfield of the American Hockey league.

“I just came in and tried to make the most of my opportunity,” Barron said. “’Lindy’ and ‘Jiri’ are great players and I’m sure they’ll be back at some point. I thought they both played good at the start of the year. They’re obviously young with a ton of talent. I’m sure they’ll be back up.”

And Barron, who’s predominantly been playing with Colton Parayko, is getting acclimated on his off side on the left.

“It’s a little bit different in the D-zone getting passes,” Barron said. “You tend to look across ice instead of up the ice first and there’s a little bit of a bling spot there, but that’s something I’ve been working on. I think in the offensive zone, it’s nice being on your one-sider time. It’s great for early positioning in the offensive zone as well.”

* Hofer stood tall – As the goalie said, he wasn’t too busy for 40 minutes having faced only 12 shots, but down a goal, the Red Wings pushed and prodded to the tune of 20 shots in the third period, and Hofer had to stop 19 of them.

“Not a lot of action (in the first two periods), to finally get some shots and feel the pressure a little bit, but it was obviously good the way we played,” Hofer said. “It was a huge win for us.

“It can be tough for sure. Obviously the handles help me stay in the game and just stay present, but obviously they’re going to get a push at some point. I just tried to stay ready for that.”

Hofer is now 7-5-1 with a 2.33 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.

“He was standing tall,” Suter said. ‘They threw some pucks in his feet and I also think they did a good job, the defensemen, and forwards to kind of box the guys out to make sure those couple pucks that lay there and we got enough sticks on it so they can’t put it in. Obviously a good win by us.”

Hofer had a nervy moment at 8:37 of the third during Detroit’s lone power play when the Red Wings sent multiple bodies to the net and a play was close enough for a lengthy delay before the call on the ice stood in a 2-1 game,

“It was a long delay,” Hofer said. “From the replay that I saw, I didn’t think that it was a goal, but yeah, I wasn’t really thinking too much to be honest.

“I honestly thought it went in (at first), to be honest, but I was more like they kind of pushed my leg in, so I was like, ‘It’s not going to count regardless,’ but it obviously didn’t go in, which was nice.”

* Thomas line very noticeable – Thomas, Snuggerud and Dylan Holloway need to impact games more regularly, and this was the right way Tuesday.

They helped account for two of the three goals, including Snuggerud’s game-winner when he made a defensive play that started a rush.

Sure, it was a fortuitous bounce when Holloway’s pass was deflected right to Gibson, but the veteran goalie swatted it into Snuggerud’s path, off his skates and into the net at 15:58 to seal what would be a one-goal win. But Snuggerud made the play defensively, joined the rush with his skating and kept moving his feet. It made it 3-1 at the time:

The line had 12 shots on goal, including seven by Holloway, who was robbed at one point by Gibson.

“They had two goals in the game and I thought they were really dynamic tonight,” Montgomery said. ‘But I thought they played fast, I thought they played north. At the end of the second, there’s a chance where Thomas could have carried that puck in, but he just chips it into the goal line, we go forecheck it and we draw a penalty the last minute. That’s the way we have to keep playing and we’re going to keep rewarding ourselves if we keep playing that way.

“hey pushed, they were down, they pushed, I thought we took our foot off the pedal, but we managed the puck well. We kept making them come against pressure. That’s why we extended the lead.”

* Mailloux helps stabilize the D – Logan Mailloux returned for the first time and made his season debut after missing 17 games with a broken right hand.

By playing with Philip Broberg and playing 18:09, it allowed Barron and Parayko to play together as well as veterans Fowler and Brandon Carlo.

“I thought he looked great,” Barron said of Mailloux, his former teammate with Laval of the AHL. “For missing some time, I thought he played really well. I got to play with him in Laval for a little while. It was a lot of fun. He’s a great teammate, a great player.”

* Admiration for WWII veteran – This is a salute to Mr. Bob Schultz, a World War 2 Marine who dropped the ceremonial first puck prior to Tuesday's game and doing it at the age of 104 on Salute to Military Night. That's amazing:

"I want to start off by recognizing what I think is a true hero," Montgomery said starting off his press conference. "I'm glad our players got off the bench to recognize Mr. Schultz, the World War 2 hero. I think that's inspirational, and I love the ovation our crowd gave him."

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