Make it four consecutive victories. The St. Louis Blues had an early game on Sunday afternoon, taking on the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit. The game was a critical match between the 7th team in the West (Detroit) and the 8th team (St. Louis).
The Blues emerged victorious by a score of 1-0, thanks to a goal from Chris Porter. Porter's goal capped off an enormous week for the Blues that saw the club win on the road in Minnesota, Chicago and Detroit while also defeating a tough Columbus squad in St. Louis.
Chris Porter's goal was very Chris Porter. By that, I mean it came as a result of gritty hard work as opposed to a flashy shot or nifty move. Porter drove the net and pounced on a loose puck, sliding it under Jimmy Howard's leg.
Today was Brian Elliott's first shutout of the season. He had nine shutouts in 2011-12.
Andy McDonald was a late scratch due to the flu. The Blues called on Kris Russell to fill in at forward, skating on the wing of the fourth line. Russell saw just over five minutes of ice time (5:11) and recorded one shot.
The Blues got away with an obvious Two Many Men penalty during a penalty kill in the second. Detroit should have had a lengthy 5-on-3 power play, but the officials missed it. Counting is hard.
Credit to the St. Louis PK. There were some hairy moments, but they killed off all three of Detroit's power plays.
St. Louis blocked 13 shots to Detroit's seven.
Today's game was on NBC. That meant lots of "Peter Angelo" and "Parry On" calls from the booth. Honestly, it's not that hard. These names have been butchered on NBC for years. Get it right. It's your job.
Speaking of NBC, a game on the network means Pierre McGuire. We all suffered today.
Several times today Detroit was presented with an opportunity after a St. Louis player lost their balance or lost an edge. With T.J. Oshie not dressed for today's game, it was odd seeing so many Blues players off their skates.
Barring a meeting in the playoffs, today's game was the last time the Blues will face Detroit as division rivals. Detroit moves to the East next season.
The Brian Elliott of 2011-12 made an appearance against Detroit. Great positioning, solid rebound control in all overall tremendous effort. He earns the shutout, stopping all 28 Detroit shots including several which were from high % areas.
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