Avs Vs. Blues Recap: ‘Av You S(t)een My Schwartz?

Blues Lineup:

Ivan Barbashev - Paul Stastny - Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Alexander Steen

Vladimir Sobotka - Patrik Berglund - Tage Thompson

Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Dmitrij Jaskin

D pairs:

Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo

Starter:

Carter Hutton

Game Highlights:

After one of their better performances Tuesday night, the Blues looked to head in to the all star break with a win. A Central Division matchup with the Avs was standing in their way. Tonight marked the return of one Jaden Schwartz who suffered that ankle injury back in Detroit. We pick up the action late in the first period with the Blues on the powerplay. Alex Pietrangelo launched a one timer at Colorado starter Jonathan Bernier. Bernier gave up a rebound in which Paul Stastny was there to collect. Tap tap taparoo for Stastny’s 11th of the year and a Blues 1-0 lead.

Jumping ahead to the second, the Avs were able to get a little more pressure on Carter Hutton. Hutton stopped a Mikko Rantanen shot early on in the second period to keep the Blues ahead by one.

The Blues connected again on the powerplay with around eight and a half minutes left in the second period. Vince Dunn unloaded a shot, but it never got to Bernier. Schenn picked up the loose puck and snaps a cannon of a shot on net. The puck beat Bernier and gave Schenn his 21st goal of the year. It also gave the Blues their second powerplay goal of the night. It was nice to see the Blues powerplay look decent against one of the leagues better penalty killing teams.

However, the Avs managed to get one back as the period went on. Bad things happen when you don’t clear the puck out of the zone. That’s exactly what happened on this play. Ivan Barbashev failed to clear the puck out. Anton Lindholm collected the puck and fired it on net. Just as the puck was hitting the ice Alexander Kerfoot was there to bang it past Hutton cutting the Blues lead in half.

The Blues got their insurance goal just as Bernier was on his way to the bench. Alex Pietrangelo was able to move the puck up to Vladimir Sobotka. Sobotka and Alexander Steen worked their way up the ice. Sobotka made a beautiful pass over to Steen. Steen buried the puck in the back of the net. Steen scored his 10th goal of the year (this time with an actual goalie in the net) and the Blues make it a 3-1 game.

3-1 was your final score and a great game for the Blues heading into the all star break. Final shot totals for the game were 37 for the Avs and 34 for the Blues. Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden Schenn are your Blues reps in this years all star festivities. The Blues return from the break on Tuesday as they take on the Canadiens.

From The Tweet Thing:

YeoLO

Starter Hutton received the Panger award this week.

Stat of the night:

So...good?

Snap into a Klim Jim. OOOOOHHHHH YEAH.

Player of the Game: