GameRecap: Blues 4 Coyotes 3

Early success, late scare and a five game winning streak. Pretty much sums up New Year’s Eve at Scottrade as the Blues kicked the desert dogs 4-3.

Outshot But Not Outscored

Phoenix held a 33-22 advantage in the SOG department at the final horn. The fourth time in five games the Blues have been outshot and won. The Blues possession and transition games looked up to par, they just didn’t lead to  a ton of scoring opportunities. At least not as many as the Coyotes were able to create.

Halak-Net Monster

Is it safe to say that the Halakness….wait, Halak-Net Monster is back? Jaroslav Halak has allowed 6 goals in his last three starts. Stopping 97 of 103 shots. A .914 save percentage.

Killer Bs?

David Backes, Patrik Berglund and Brad Boyes combined for 1 goal, 2 assists, 5 shots and 6 hits. Eric Brewer also played well. Blocking 3 shots while leading the Blues with 22:14 of icetime. Backes’ creation of the Erik Johnson SHG was masterful. Completely outworking the Yotes power play unit below their own red line and creating the opening for EJ’s shot.

4th Line Rising?

The energy line trio of Chris Porter, Adam Cracknell and Cam Janssen have been pulling their weight and not contributing negative impacts to the game. Their reward? More ice time. All three played over 8 minutes and registered a total of 9 hits. As much as Payne likes to roll all of his lines, having a productive 4th line helps keep the three key lines fresh and helps to wear out opposing defenses even more.

McClement a 20 Minute Man

Silent Jay McClement had one of his better games of the season. In 21:06 on the ice he contributed 2 shots, a block and a hit while winning 13 of 19 draws. Normally I woudl complain about Berglund seeing just 13 minutes and change with McClement’s TOI so high, but it worked out last night. Bergie was fresh and using his body well and Jay was on point.

Steen Keeps on Truckin’

Alex Steen added another goal and an assist to his season totals. Have to love a guy who breaks the stereotypical “Eruo” mold and leaves everything on the ice. There are few who can put out the successful second, third and even fourth effort to make a play happen. He was in usual form last night.

Near Meltdown

From the view in Section 313, it was hard to tell what lead to the two Phoenix goals in the last few minutes. A couple of bang bang goals made it 4-3 with 20 some-odd seconds left. Cause for concern? We’ll see, but late flops hasn’t been this team’s MO. Sure its happened, but not close to the frequency or severity of 2009-10.

No Cam v Biz

No rematch between Janssen and Paul Bissonnette. Much sadness indeed.

-

As always, you are invited to follow @618_STLBlues and @BlueNoteZone on Twitter and on the  BlueNoteZone Facebook Fan Page for in game updates and Blues news. Please also check out the St. Louis Blues Blogs Facebook Fan Page for links to Blues blogs all over the Internet.