ST. LOUIS – A chance to take five of a possible eight points on a four-game homestand with the Olympic break on the horizon was on the table for the St. Louis Blues.
A team that has no margin for error was, in the words of coach Jim Montgomery, “we wanted it to come easy,” in the first two periods, and it proved costly.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets won their season-high fifth straight and seventh in eight games since Rick Bowness took over as coach on Jan. 13, winning on the second of back-to-back games, 5-3 against the Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.
The Blues (20-26-9), who were coming off an entertaining 5-4 win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday, fell into some bad habits in a game that closed out a four-game homestand seeing them go 1-2-1.
Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to four games, Jonatan Berggren also had a goal and an assist and Brayden Schenn had two assists. Jordan Binnington fell to 2-11-1 in his past 14 starts after making 18 saves.
“I think in the first two periods, we wanted it to come easy,” Montgomery said. “We were not skating, working, hitting like we have the last handful of games. And then in the third, we did. We pushed and it ended up being too little, too late.”
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Here are the game observations:
* Fourth straight loss facing opponent playing second of back-to-back – The Blues have had the good fortune, or so it should wind up being that way, of facing a team that should be lower on energy.
The Blue Jackets played on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks, a 7:38 p.m. puck drop mind you. They didn’t land in St. Louis until shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, probably didn’t get into their hotel until around 2 a.m., then turn around to play less than 24 hours later in a 6:08 p.m. puck drop.
The Blues got the start they wanted, grabbing the early lead when Snuggerud scored in his second straight game, working a nice give-and-go with Schenn before beating Jet Greaves in alone at 7:11 for a 1-0 lead:
But then their play slipped. It lagged. Why?
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“I just think we’re hoping for things to go right and when they don’t, we wait for a push and the reality in this league, that’s not good enough,” Schenn said. “We have to find ways to dig in for one another. Realistically, you can’t come back every third period. If you actually play the right way for the first 20-30 minutes of the game when you’ve got a team on a back-to-back, you will eventually tilt the ice and hem them in, like we did (in the third), but we’re always chasing games. We just don’t have enough drive to come out and push teams out early on.”
They held the lead for a whole 37 seconds before Isac Lundestrom tied it 1-1 off a fortuitous bounce initially that led to a blown coverage after a good stick lift by Boone Jenner on Pavel Buchnevich.
Columbus led 2-1 after the first and outshot the Blues 10-7 after initially being outshot 6-2.
* Blues didn’t protect the front of the net – It’s an area that had seen some improvement of late, but the net front coverage and allowance of ice between the hash marks was off the mark, if you will.
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All three of the remaining Columbus goals either came off missed plays that ultimately led to goals with net front traffic.
Denton Mateychuk gave Columbus their first lead 2-1 at 12:54 of the first when the Blue Jackets cycled the puck cleanup up high, then the defenseman’s shot from the top of the left circle made it through with Dmitri Voronkov providing the net front coverage in front of Binnington and getting through the Blues goalie when Colton Parayko tipped the puck through:
Kent Johnson’s goal at 8:30 of the second period made it 3-2 when Ivan Provorov’s clean wrister from the left point found its way towards Binnington and Johnson was there without any resistance to tip it home:
And what turned out to be the game-winner, Damon Severson’s high slot blast that made it 4-3 at 16:01 of the second came off a Dalibor Dvorsky giveaway just inside the O-zone blue line, and when Parayko tried pushing the puck up the lefthand boards, it was picked off by Zach Werenski, who fed his partner, and Severson’s shot came with traffic in front again:
“That Columbus team, by good friend Rick Bowness is doing a really good job, they’re really big and they play a heavy game; they go to the net front,” Montgomery said. “We’ve played them twice and they’ve scored three goals in both games, rebound tips, just mucking it up. Something that we’ve been trying to preach to do a little more of ourselves, and I think we’ve gotten slightly better at it but not at their level.”
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* Berggren finding his niche – Yes, Berggren went through a nine-game stretch without putting up a point, but he now has three in two games, including goals in back-to-back games, and it’s not for a lack of creating.
he Swede, claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 16, tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal at 3:15 of the second, a nice shot from the inner portion of the right circle:
Berggren is being given top-six minutes, but in the past two games has played on the third line, so he’s a regular in the top nine. He’s been creating plenty of opportunities, and there’s been a lack of finish by his teammates by his creativity, but there’s something about this kid I like.
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“The guys have done an easy job for me to come in and play my game,” Berggren said. “I feel like even if I haven’t produced these couple games, I’ve created a lot, and that’s all I can do. Lucky now, the puck goes in. Hopefully it keeps going like that.”
* Blues didn’t build on momentum of scoring – All three times the Blues scored on Saturday, they had the opportunity to build and add to the fatigue of an opponent that played the night before.
But each time that the Blues scored, Columbus found an answer.
They tied it 37 seconds after Snuggerud gave them the lead; Johnson’s goal came 4:45 after Berggren tied it in the second, and when Tyler Tucker’s goal tied the game 3-3 at 13:35 of the second, Severson put Columbus ahead 2:26 later.
“I feel like this is a game we probably should have won,” Berggren said. “… We lacked execution. We didn’t move our feet and stuff like that. I think the last 10 games, we’ve done a really good job doing.”
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* Blues had a good push in the third period, needed more close-in range attempts – Down a goal, the Blues were going to have to get on the hunt, and they did. The shot clock read 15-4, and at one point it was 14-1, but it seemed that many of the chances that were heading towards Jet Greaves, the Columbus goalie was seeing well or shots dented the logo in the middle.
“Good comeback in the third and we probably should have scored,” Berggren said.
“There were some good looks,” Montgomery said. “I would like them to be closer to the net. I didn’t like, especially on the power play, they were shooting from the top of the circles instead of the hash marks. We’re not attacking the goal line, having someone on the back door trying to bang it home, or we’re not executing the play when it’s there. I thought we had good looks, but I would have liked them to be a little more dangerous.”
* Schenn, Snuggerud with Dvorsky line has been humming well – The trio combined for a nice first goal, and the trip has combined for 16 points the past five games.
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It’s a situation with the older vet and the two young pups linking up well.
“Just enjoying playing with them,” Schenn said. “For me personally, I remember in a situation, I had Danny Briere on my line and guys like Wayne Simmonds and Vinny Lecavalier (with the Philadelphia Flyers). If I asked them questions, they were always giving me an answer, be hard on me sometimes, and that’s how you learn. They’re both playing really well right now, they both have a bright future, they’re both very receptive to getting better and that’s what you want.
“Lots of chatter on the bench and what we can do better rather than I’m not the yeller and screamer at my linemates, never have been. I think it’s more dialogue of finding ways to be better as a three-man group whoever you’re playing with that night. Both of – I don’t want to call them kids – but both young guys are playing well right now.”
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