Sports

/

ArcaMax

Blues lose 3-2 to Jets as Robert Thomas exits game early

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on

Published in Hockey

ST. LOUIS — The Blues will have to pick out another time to beat the Winnipeg Jets.

After beating Winnipeg just once in the past two seasons, the Blues began their season series against the Jets with a 3-2 loss on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.

Brandon Saad scored twice for the Blues, who received 21 saves from Jordan Binnington. Robert Thomas left the game midway through the third period after blocking a shot early in the frame.

Thomas was not available for the Blues during a late-game power play in which the Blues were trying to tie the game at 3 following a delay of game penalty. St. Louis had one shot on goal and one missed shot during the man-advantage.

The Blues hit the road for a four-game trip that begins on Thursday in Toronto against former coach Craig Berube.

Saad hits milestone

With his first-period goal that gave the Blues a 1-0 lead on Tuesday night, Saad recorded his 500th career point. Saad was stuck on 499 after his first three games played this season but broke through when he stuffed home a rebound of a Thomas shot.

It was Saad's 129th point with the Blues, which trails only Saad's 241 points with the Blackhawks.

Saad struck again in the third period in a similar fashion, pouncing on a Jordan Kyrou rebound on the edge of the crease and putting it in the back of the net to draw the Blues back to within 3-2.

Saad was the last remaining Blues forward without a point this seaosn entering Tuesday's game, and he exited it as one of five Blues with multiple goals on the season.

Jets get going

Winnipeg scored three goals in the second period to turn a 1-0 Blues lead into a 3-1 Jets advantage.

 

Nino Niederreieter scored on a Jets power play at 8:12 of the second period, tipping a point shot by Neal Pionk. About 5 1/2 minutes later, Colin Miller stepped into a blast from the blue line to give Winnipeg its first lead of the night.

Kyle Connor tallied his fifth goal of the season with a snipe from the left dot that beat Binnington. The Blues had a chance to clear the puck from their own zone, but Brayden Schenn and Mathieu Joseph collided in the slot, allowing the Jets to keep the puck in and eventually find an open Connor.

Winnipeg could have extended their lead multiple times during the game, but Binnington came up huge on a pair of occasions. In the second period, Binnington snared a Morgan Barron shot by going post to post and making a glove save after a feed from Alex Iafallo. In the third period, Binnington made a right toe save on Mark Scheifele after it appeared that the veteran forward had a gaping net to fill.

Next class

The Blues announced their third class of inductees into the Blues Hall of Fame on Tuesday night during the first period: Wayne Babych, Curtis Joseph and Jim Roberts.

Babych played six seasons in St. Louis, racking up 345 points in 396 games. During his rookie season in 1978-79, Babych finished third in Calder Trophy voting. Two years later in 1980-81, Babych scored 54 goals, and he still ranks 15th in Blues history with 155 goals.

Joseph played more games for the Blues than for any other team during his 19-year NHL career, suiting up in goal for 280 games in the Note. Joseph twice finished in the top four of Vezina Trophy voting during his time in St. Louis. Joseph is fourth in Blues history in both games played and wins and second in saves made.

Roberts was the original Blue as the team's first expansion selection in 1967 from the Canadiens. Roberts played both forward and defenseman in St. Louis and racked up 157 points in 395 games played.

The players will officially be inducted on Jan. 24 during a ceremony, before they are celebrated on Jan. 25 when the Blues welcome the Stars to Enterprise Center.

____


©2024 STLtoday.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus