Blues looked cleaner, created more strong scoring chances against top-tiered goalie, needed to stay patient against stingy Islanders
ST. LOUIS -- More than anything, the St. Louis Blues coming off a 4-1 loss against the Minnesota Wild in their home opener on Thursday needed to not just find a way to break through with some sustained offense but needed to eliminate some of the breakdowns that crept into their game of late.
Several key factors fueled their 1-0 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Thursday to end a modest two-game slide (3-2-0).
Let's jump right into those:
* Joel Hofer -- The Blues' goalie was sharp from the start, and when he made a couple nifty saves with the Islanders (1-1-2) coming in early waves, there was a sense the Blues were going to get a solid goaltending performance; he finished with 34 saves in the game.
"Unbelievable. He's so locked in," Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. "Just his routine on game days, on practice days, how he approaches every day at the rink, it's fun to watch him, he's really locked in and he wants to be the best he can be. There's no surprises there how he played today; he was outstanding. Nice little apple for him to top it off."
That apple turned into the game-winning goal when Hofer played it up off the boards to Philip Broberg, who sauced the puck into Neighbours stride and Neighbours redirected it off the near post and in.
* Jake Neighbours -- The Blues' forward spoke in the morning about how he felt like the offense would come.
Held off the scoresheet the first four games and a minus-5 on the season, Neighbours was more engaged in the game from a physical standpoint and at the net front, nearly scoring in the third period off a goalmouth scramble.
"I thought he did a lot of good things," Blues coach Drew Bannister said of Neighbours. "We spoke about it this morning about where he's going to score his goals and you saw that tonight by having a good chance in the third by getting in a good position in the slot. But it's nice to see him get a goal around that blue paint."
* Ryan Suter -- The veteran Blues defenseman stepped in for Nick Leddy, who missed the game with a lower-body injury, on the top d-pair with Colton Parayko and didn't miss a beat.
Suter, behind Parayko's 26:30, played the second-most minutes for the Blues at 25:10 and made the simple plays needed for the Blues to have success.
"It was fun," Suter said. "Obviously you don't want anyone to get hurt (Leddy). He'll be back soon hopefully and just trying to help out."
Bannister added, "I thought they played really well together. A guy that's played close to 1,500 games as long as he has, steps into that position and feels pretty comfortable, I thought he looked great up there."
* Philip Broberg -- Broberg set a franchise record for defensemen by recording a point in his fifth straight game to begin his Blues career but once again, he and Justin Faulk just really looked in sync out there in playing a solid shutdown role.
* P.O. Joseph -- The Blues defenseman stepped into the lineup and really made an impression by his aggressive nature in the offensive zone by getting pucks and shooting from all angles.
Granted, Joseph did get four of his six shots blocked in the 10:51 he played but closed down plays well and used his stick to break up plays in transition.
"Pounding pucks," Bannister said. "I really liked his game. Simple, physical, got pucks through, got pucks down low for forwards to get back to work."
* Zack Bolduc -- Probably the most engaged as far as physicality that Bolduc has displayed in his young career.
Sure, the 21-year-old didn't score, but he tried shooting the puck (all five attempts were blocked) and he had three hits, one late in the first period that fueled the Blues' first sustained zone time.
"I thought 'Boldy' had a really good game," Bannister said. "I thought he had a really strong third period. For a young player moving into that position, a tight hockey game, I had a lot of trust in him."
