Blues 7 – Oilers 2: One Loud Victory

Two games into this tough road trip the Blues have two wins. Following a 3-1 victory over the Canucks last night, the Blues ran up the score in Edmonton winning by an impressive seven goals to two. Revenge was sought after the Oilers embarrassed the Blues at home, and the team returned the favor in a big way. These post game recaps are always the most fun as there is plenty of nice words to go around. Most importantly, the win secures two more points for the Blues as they look to continue their climb back into the playoff picture. This was a fun one to watch Blues fans and it makes the memories of the last time the team faced Edmonton feel very, very distant.

Man of the Match:

Alex Steen – 1 goal, 3 assists. 6 shots & 2 penalty minutes.

It wasn’t easy narrowing it down to just one man, but Steen has been as solid as they come all season long for the Blues and has been one of their hardest workers. Even in the games where the entire Blues roster appeared to have never left the bench, Steen could be seen buzzing around the ice, bringing energy and trying to get things rolling. He may not appear in the box score often, but tonight his hard work was rewarded with four points.

Positives (There’s quite a few…Seven actually)

Well hellooo power-play. Welcome back. Sorry you’re late, but we are glad to see you again! Four of the seven goals the Blues tallied tonight came with the man advantage. The most impressive was the team’s sixth goal, where Andy McDonald capped off an incredible string of passes for the team’s third goal with the man advantage. Tic-tac-toe. Thanks for playing. Five chances, four goals.

Nice to see Patrik Berglund contributing with a goal and an assist tonight. As each game goes by he looks more and more like the player we loved last year.

Chris Mason was solid in net, but frankly enjoyed a comfortable lead for a considerable part of the contest. Either way, he made some key saves early and needed a game like this to get him back on track. Let’s hope this big win is a boost to not only Mason’s but several other players’ confidence level.

Daryl Sydor actually fought at the end of this one. That’s something you don’t see everyday, and you shouldn’t have seen in this one. It occured as the result of Edmonton’s Ethan Moreau not being able to keep his emotion in check as the Blues poured it on. First Moreau was sent off for a frankly moronic penalty (the Blues tallied their 7th goal) and then he made a questionable hit on Sydor in the corner which Sydor rightfully took offense to.

The faceoff circle. This has been an area of concern during many of the Blues disappointing losses. The team made a point to work on this area of their game and it’s paying off. Tonight the team went 34-26 on the draw. Winning in the circle leads to chances on the offense and preventing the other team from setting up in your zone.

Andy McDonald lights the lamp twice. We needed to get him going. Coming into tonight, he had just one goal in his last 18 games – a slump to say the least. The left winger scored 15 in 46 games last season and was looked upon to be one of the main threats of the attack this year. He hasn’t really lived up to the bill (have any of the Blues?) but he did chip in two of what is hopefully many more.

Limiting shots. Edmonton may not be the most talented or organized side (they actually came into tonight’s game last in the West) but still it is great to see the Blues limit their chances and play an overall solid game defensively. Sure, there were mix ups and miscues, but when all was said and done the Oilers only managed 25 shots.

Negatives

It’s not everyday you score seven goals in a contest, especially not on the road. We’re skipping negatives today as throwing out any would just be nitpicking.

What Lies Ahead …

For the Blues – They are off tomorrow before taking on Calgary Wednesday. I had been worried about the number of games right in a row, but now that the Blues have some momentum I say keep ’em coming.

For FrozenNotes.com – Since tonight’s recap is going up, well, tonight, tomorrow will feature our very first mailbag which will also be the site’s 100th post. Stop by, throw us a comment, or come celebrate the Blues big win with us.