Jake Allen got a shutout and a few bragging rights over friend and former teammate Ben Bishop on Tuesday night. Suddenly, Allen held the distinction of being the heir apparent.
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But you can’t win if you don’t score, and the Lightning stunningly hasn’t in the past two games, including a 2-0 defeat to the Blues on Tuesday in front of a sold-out Scottrade Center. “I came up a little short, but overall I think it was a pretty good game”. “It’s going to be exciting to go up against him”. His sixth-career shutout came with a 26-save performance.
Veteran forward Scott Gomez scored his first goal of the season on a deflection from defenseman Colton Parayko’s slap shot from the blue line. The Blues’ five-game homestand continues Thursday night with a game against Anaheim….
Edinson Volquez strode purposefully to the mound for Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night, apparently unaware his father had passed away hours earlier in the Dominican Republic.
Tampa Bay was shut out for the second consecutive game, having lost 1-0 in overtime Saturday night in Chicago. Alex Killorn hit the post in the second period, and Stamkos’ one-timer deflected off the crossbar in the third. Although head coach Ken Hitchcock was only resigned to a one-year deal by St. Louis this past May, the Blues’ performance so far (6-2-1) has provided him with much more job security compared to other coaches around the league. It was setup by a familiar source of offense lately. “He saw it, he saw me get in that spot and he got it on net”. Gomez was skating in front of the net and got a stick on the puck, deflecting it past Bishop.
For Parayko, the rookie had his sixth point of the season in his ninth game. He has three goals and three assists, and with an assist on the Gomez goal, he had a hand in the last four Blues’ goals, dating back to the Winnipeg game, October 18.
The Blues took the one-goal lead into their locker room, but it was hardly telling of how the first period played out.
St. Louis Blues’ David Backes (42) fires the puck past the outstretched stick of Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman (77) in the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, October 27, 2015 in St. Louis.
But the Blues’ power-play units, without injured players Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz and Shattenkirk, continued to flutter. According to Smith, if Lightning center Brian Boyle is unable to return tonight alongside Paquette, the Lightning will more than likely go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen with Nikita Nesterov being in.
Allen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The loss also spoiled Bishop’s trip back to his hometown, where he has not won in three games since being traded by the Blues to Ottawa in 2012.
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At times in this game, the Lightning struggled to cleanly exit their own zone. But just 26 later, Jori Lehtera was called for an obvious interference penalty, negating the man-advantage.
