The Florida Panthers looked more like a domesticated pet than wild animal in their first meeting with the St. Louis Blues. The second was no different.
Brian Elliott tamed the beast as his counterpart did previously to the tune of a 30 save shutout. Derek Roy, Chris Stewart, Alex Pietrangelo, and Alexander Steen netted the tallies that lead to a 4-0 victory Friday night.
The scoring opened late in the first period with Stewart bowling over his man along the boards and using a shuffleboard maneuver to move the puck over to Roy. The wobbling puck aided him in flipping it past Jacob Markstrom on a backhanded finish.
The assist was Stewart's first points since October 5th when the two teams met last.
The power forward cashed in on some of his good play karma banked of late for his first goal of the season in the second period. Taking a Barret Jackman pass so deep it didn't seems as he could get a viable shot off. He made the steep angle shot count as it slipped through Markstrom as he slid out of position.
It only pushed the lead to 2-0, but it was enough to deflate the Panthers.
Pietrangelo and Steen's goal came from right outside the crease on bang-bang plays that the home team couldn't handle as they were out manned.
Attention to detail was not Florida's strong suit. Had it been they may have been able to keep up and limit the ease in which the Blues seemed to have scored. Aside from Stewarts goal the other three were preventable by being aware and moving with urgency. Just didn't see that.
That said, Ken Hitchcock and his team deserve credit for the fits they gave Florida, especially on the forecheck.
Max Lapierre registered 2 shots on goal, one hit, and went 3-for-5 on the draw in 12:31 TOI. It was his first game since October 15th.
Ian Cole made had little impact on the outcome of only his second game this season. Hard to do too much with only 15:40 TOI and the other two pairings so heavily relied upon.
Elliott has tied Roman Turek for the third most shutouts in franchise history with 13. Now has 22 in his career.
The Blues went 1-for-4 on the power play and continue to hold the top percentage in the NHL at 27.9% (12 for 43).
With 18 points through 11 games the Blues have taken 81.8% of the points possible (22) so far.
There is no rest for the weary as the Blues move north to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night.
Must See Replay
Stewie's first.
Follow me on Twitter, @HockeybuzzBlues, and Like the Hockeybuzz - Blues Facebook page.
-
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»