Blues No. 1 center played with a chip on shoulder one day after being left off Canada for 4 Nations Face-Off; had goal, two assists, including on Parayko game-winner in 4-3 OT win
Blues No. 1 center played with a chip on shoulder one day after being left off Canada for 4 Nations Face-Off; had goal, two assists, including on Parayko game-winner in 4-3 OT win
Let's get it out of the way right away: Jordan Binnington was terrific on Thursday night for the St. Louis Blues against the Calgary Flames with 36 saves.
But it's almost common for a Blues goaltender to give the team a chance to win on a nightly basis, so player of the game will go to either Binnington or Joel Hofer on a regular basis.
Robert Thomas had his handprints all over this Blues 4-3 overtime win at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Blues' No. 1 center was a longshot to make Team Canada -- Binnington and Colton Parayko made the squad -- for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February after missing 12 games with a fractured right ankle. But he sure played like someone with a chip on his shoulder with a goal and two assists, including a toe drag move to the net that eventually led to Parayko's rebound game-winner in overtime.
Thomas scored a beauty at 14:49 of the first period to give the Blues a 2-0 lead, faking a drop pass before peeling to the middle of the ice and beating Dan Vladar with a quick wrister short side of the post and in:
He also slotted a pass to Pavel Buchnevich at the back post at 6:00 of the third period that gave the Blues a 3-2 lead:
But the best may have been this curling toe drag around Yegor Sharagovich to the net, getting a chance off that Vladar sprawled out to save before Parayko won it on the rebound that needed a lengthy review at 2:25 of overtime:
Thomas logged 23:29 ice time in the game, which was only surpassed by Parayko (29:40), Philip Broberg (26:51) and Ryan Suter (25:01); he was a plus-2 tying Pavel Buchnevich for a team-high four shots on goal and winning 17 of 28 face-offs (61 percent).
