Blues Double Up Flyers
Brian Elliott - Who knew back in training camp what he would be in October? ©2011 TSNPhotography
The St. Louis Blues took to the road again with another four-game trip. First stop was against the Philadelphia Flyers. With a big home win the night before, the Blues evened their record by taking down the Flyers 4-2 in the only meeting between the two clubs for the regular season.
Kent Huskins got the Blues on the board fast with his second goal of the year. An early icing left the Flyers crew a bit gassed when Jason Arnott won a strong face-off back to Huskins who ripped one by Ilya Bryzgalov.
A two goal lead was reached with the help of TJ Oshie. When Andrej Meszaros misplayed the puck on the boards Oshie took off creating a two-on-one. While many would have expected a pass to the pressing Arnott, or maybe the straight shot from Oshie, he fooled most with a drop pass to a rushing defenseman. Carlo Colaiacovo sent a gentle shot in toward Bryzgalov that was kicked aside right on to Oshie’s stick who buried it for his first of the season.
Brian Elliott got the start again of Jaroslav Halak and improved his record to 3-0 stopping 34 of 36. Davis Payne seems to be riding the hot hand with Elliott while giving Halak some time off.
Almost a minute into the first, Elliott was torched by Danny Briere. Breaking into the offensive zone, Wayne Simmonds fed the sniper who lifted a beautiful sharp angle shot over Elliott’s shoulder to cut the lead in half.
By the end of the second the Blues would get that one back with Colaiacovo getting his first goal of the season. Evgeny Grachev with another start got the play going by moving the puck up the boards to Alex Steen who forced a couple shots on net. The puck bounced out to Colaiacovo who slipped it by Bryzgalov for a 3-1 lead.
The injury shark bit again with another key player going down for the Blues. Making a power move past one defender, David Backes was looking to create some offense about midway through the second period. That is when big Chris Pronger plowed into Backes with a massive shoulder to shoulder body check. The Blues captain did not return due to an upper body injury. Speculation ranged from a shoulder or arm injury to a potential concussion because of how his shoulder and head struck the ice. Jeremy Rutherford reported after the game that Backes was not seen with any “shoulder apparatus”.
Matt Carle of the Flyers and the Blues’ Matt D’Agostini traded power play goals in the third to finish the scoring on the night.
Quick Hits
- Oshie was benched for an extended stretch of the game following multiple miscues from individualistic play at the end of the first period.
- Simmonds worked hard at getting under the skin of the Blues, especially Barret Jackman. The two threw down in a second period fight. Check out the latest Fight Card post for the details.
- The thin line of physicality was skated by the Flyers all night. Liberties were taken early and often.
Up Next: Wednesday up to Vancouver to take on the Canucks.
