If you only saw the score from the Blues’ 5-1 win over the Bruins, you might assume it was a lopsided blowout. The reality couldn’t be any farther from that assumption. The Blues were outplayed for long stretches, yet emerged the victor in what might have been one of the strangest games of the season.
If you missed it, here’s a short list of all of the weird events:
The first goal Jake Allen allowed hit inside his glove, rolled up over it and went into the net. That’s a save Allen makes maybe 97% of the time.
The Blues managed just 15 shots on Boston’s net. They scored five times. That’s a success rate of 33.3%.
On the day in which NHL.com rolled out some advanced stats, the Blues were outshot 27 to 15. The advanced stats said Boston had the better game (you know, except for the whole scoring thing), but the Blues won big. Advanced stats are awesome, but they won’t always tell the whole story.
Rookie goalie Malcolm Subban allowed his first NHL goal in his first NHL start in the first minute of the second period. Oh, and the goal was Petteri Lindbohm’s first NHL goal.
Subban was pulled after allowing three goals. Tuukka Rask came in and went on to allow two more. Later in the game as Boston was trying to stall to draw up a play without a timeout, they made a goalie change and put Subban back in goal. He stayed there for the remainder of the third period.
Jordan Caron had a dangerous hit on T.J. Oshie which resulted in Lindbohm dropping his gloves to stand up for Oshie. A penalty was not originally called on the hit by Caron, but one was assessed following the fight. While the penalty was the correct call, it was bizarre that neither official had their arm up following the hit. It was only after the fight that the penalty was assessed.
A win is a win, but that was certainly a strange one.
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