ST. LOUIS — Bad starts and big comebacks go hand in hand now for the Blues.
On Monday, they fell behind 2-0 to Nashville, being outshot 12-0 at one point in the battle between two of the top teams in the Central Division, only to shrug it off like a mild case of dandruff.
In 9 minutes, 10 seconds, the Blues went from being down two goals to being up two goals in the kind of whipsaw changes that have become routine for the Blues this season as they beat the Predators 5-3 before a sellout crowd that came out to see Chris Pronger’s jersey retired at Enterprise Center.
Ivan Barbashev scored twice to take the team lead with 15 goals this season and set a career high before the team even reached the halfway point of the season. Brayden Schenn, in his first game back from COVID, had two goals and two assists and Ryan O’Reilly scored his fourth goal in four games while Ville Husso, getting the start, got the win. The Blues have won six of their eight games since Christmas and are second in place in the Central, even on points with Nashville and having played one less game.
Against Toronto on Saturday, the Blues were down 3-1 and came back to get even and take the lead before losing. Before that, against Seattle and Dallas, they trailed by a goal in the third period and rallied to win in regulation.
Blues coach Craig Berube said it was just part of the goalie rotation that Husso got the nod in goal. Husso has been the hotter goalie lately, allowing just one goal in each of his previous two starts, while Jordan Binnington had allowed four or more goals in three of his past four starts.
The Blues got four players back from COVID, forwards Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron and defenseman Colton Parayko, as well as forward Logan Brown, who had been out with a non-COVID illness. That leaves the Blues down just one player to COVID, forward Pavel Buchnevich, who could be back in time for their next game — on Friday in Seattle. The five players who came back into the lineup combined for six points, headed by Schenn’s four.
The Predators made it a one-goal game at 11:13 of the third period on a goal by Yakov Trenin, who had an open net to shoot at and delayed almost long enough for Husso to make the save on it. As it was Husso only got a piece of it and couldn’t keep it out of the net.
Nashville had more chances. Ryan Johansen was alone in front of the net and got the puck but shot just high and just wide and hung his head in disbelief afterward. With about five minutes to go, the puck was coming to Philip Tomasino with a good chance to score but Robert Bortuzzo threw himself at the puck to break up the play.
Schenn put the game to rest with 2:35 to play when he took a pass from Barbashev and one-timed it in to make it 5-3.
The Blues fell behind 1-0 4:05 into the game, and were down 2-0 with 4:10 to go in the period, and then the comeback began. Nineteen seconds after Nashville took a two-goal lead, Schenn sent a puck toward the net that Barbashev redirected in to make it 2-1. With 2:13 to go in the period, Nashville goalie Juuse Saros blocked a shot by Tarasenko, and the rebound came in front of the net to Ryan O’Reilly, who stickhandled the puck around Saros and in to tie the game, just 1:57 after Nashville had gone up by two.
The second period began with a string of odd-man rushes for the Blues, and Schenn scored on one of the early ones, finishing off a two-on-one with a shot into the top right corner to put the Blues ahead 59 seconds into the period.
The rushes kept on coming and 5:19 into the period, Justin Faulk fed Barbashev, who put it in on the left side to make it 4-2 with his 15th goal of the season.
Barbashev had a chance for a hat trick with 12:50 to go in the third but couldn’t get his shot at an open net through some sticks. The Blues had to kill a power play with 11:16 to go and did it effectively, with Nashville not having a shot on goal.
Bluenotes
Defenseman Scott Perunovich was on the ice at the start of practice but left early, and coach Craig Berube said Perunovich was “not ready to play.”
Perunovich missed three games after a positive COVID test and returned on Saturday against Toronto, playing 13:48 and late into the game and took part in the team’s optional practice on Sunday. Berube just said that Perunovich had an injury.
• With the returning players, four players from Saturday, James Neal, Dakota Joshua and Alexei Toropchenko were sent back to the taxi squad and Nathan Walker was sent back to Springfield.
• Jake Walman was a healthy scratch.
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