And So It Begins

Tonight, the preseason opener for the St. Louis Blues could not have come soon enough for the droves of bleeding blue fans in the Bi-State area. Kicking off the 2011-2012 NHL season with a match up with the Tampa Bay Lightning the blues brought the youth in tow tonight.  The lack of age did not seem to bother the blue notes as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over the Bolts. Most notable tonight was the strong play of rookie defense-man Mark Cundari. Cundari posted a +2 tonight and with his short stature and explosive effort helped the blues to contain and crush any attempt at mixing it up in front of starting goal tender Brian Elliot. A few other blues had good games tonight. Anthony Nigro, Evganey Grachev ( 2 goals tonight), and Anthony Peluso had some very positive aspects to their game tonight. Peluso went toe to toe with Bolts player  Eric Neilson. Peluso landed several huge hay maker rights to Neilsons face which brought the STC to its feet in a roar of approval. Even with the fight the  pace of the game tonight was a bit to be desired as the new up and coming youngsters got their ears wet on the NHL ice at Scott Trade Center in front of a rather small crowd. The team will pack it’s bags and make a trip to Orlando Florida where they will once again square off with the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night. A quick scoring recap for tonight’s game- Evgeny Grachev at 15:56 of the first period scored a PPG from Langenbrunner and Backes on a rebound that fell right into his lap. At 09:35 of the second Steve Downie tipped in a pass from P. Kubina and Tampa Bay tied the game up sliding  one past Elliot. With 3:07 left to go in the second Matt D’Agostini planted one past the Bolts net minder to give the Blues a 2-1. Jonathen Cheechoo and Phil McRae had the assists on the goal. In the third with 32 seconds left in the game the Bolts had pulled net minder Jaroslav Janus as Evgeny Grachev took the puck and snapped his second goal of the game into an empty net to clinch the game for St. Louis. Tomorrows game will not be on KMOX but should be covered by Tampa Bay radio’s wfla. It is time to get out your blues gear and strap on your boots. Blues hockey is back!