NHL Sunday night Match Analysis: St. Louis Blues vs. Columbus Blue Jackets 6-4
St. Louis moved up in the rankings with their fifth win in the past six matchups to grab the fourth number position in the Western Conference with 42 points as the Blues dominated the Columbus Blue Jackets with their third period rallying, 6-4, on Sunday
night, December 18, 2011, at the Scottrade Center in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States.
The good thing about the Blues is that they have found ways to make a late comeback despite being down after the second period of regulation comes to an end. The 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season has certainly been a turnaround for them
so far as they look to have a much better position when the postseason starts later next year.
Columbus is one of those teams that have tried many different things and still have not found a way to win games as they stand at the same spot, number 15, they were in the previous season with only 22 points and a disappointing 9-20-4 record in the past
33 games they have played up until now.
St. Louis was also one of those teams that fired their head coach, Davis Payne, who is now replaced by Ken Hitchcock, who has given them a noticeable difference in terms of performance and game play.
"To play like that in the third period was really impressive," head coach, Ken Hitchcock said. "We sucked it up, found our legs, and really went after them."
Derek MacKenzie fired off his fourth of the season 12:06 into the opening match to give Columbus an early lead, but St. Louis was determined not to stay behind for long as Kevin Shattenkirk potted the equaliser for his fifth of the year less than 30 seconds
later followed by T.J. Oshie with the tie-breaker, all in a span of roughly three minutes.
Columbus had a comeback of their own during the second period as Derek Dorsett levelled the contest once again followed by Mark Letestu with his fifth with two seconds remaining in the mid round on a late power play opportunity as the Blues lost Kevin Shattenkirk
was booked for boarding.
"Good teams find ways to win," Alex Pietrangelo said. "We had to score six goals to do it and we're not going to be able to do that every time out. But it's good to know we can do it if we have to."
The Blues kicked off their scoring spree with Alexander Steen potting the opening only 58 seconds in followed by Jason Arnott with the tie-breaker and Alex Pietrangelo to extend the lead nearly midway through.
Derick Brassard gave the home crowd the impression that Columbus was coming back and would not let St. Louis take over in the final minutes with his third to bring the Blue Jackets within reach of the score by one while Patrik Berglund made the insurance
shot with less than a minute to go.
"It's a game of momentum," said Columbus goalie, Steve Mason, who fell to 4-14-1 on the season. "Unfortunately at the key times, we were on the wrong side of it."
St. Louis will be facing off against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday to kick off their two-game road trip, followed by the Phoenix Coyotes on Friday.
Columbus on the other hand, has to more to go, the next being against Nashville Predators on Thursday.
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