ST. LOUIS — It was a game that had trouble written all over it for the Blues, one game at home against a non-contending team sandwiched between two four-game trips. It was enough of a concern that Blues coach Craig Berube addressed the situation with his team before practice on Thursday.
The message may not have totally gotten through as the Blues had to battle all night against the Sabres before coming away with a 5-3 win before a sellout crowd at Enterprise Center. The Blues have won three in a row and are 5-0-1 in six games since getting blown out by New Jersey in their first game after the All-Star break.
Jordan Kyrou, who got a personally delivered message from Berube after practice on Thursday about the need to use his feet more, did just that, snapping out of a post-All-Star Game slump with two first-period goals to raise his season total to 20, extending his career high even further, and assisted on the game-winner when Colton Parayko knocked in a rebound and Ville Husso did what has become routine for him. Jake Walman put the Blues ahead in the second period and new dad Brayden Schenn scored into an empty net with 33 seconds to play to seal it. Husso stopped 34 of 37 shots he faced in a hectic night in the Blues' end.
The Blues lost forward Oskar Sundqvist midway through the first period to a lower-body injury, and it wasn’t clear what had happened. At the end of his last shift, Sundqvist leaned forward, his hands on his knees. He didn’t return to action and the Blues said at the intermission that he would not return. The Blues have been very healthy, especially at forward lately. In the nine games since Pavel Buchnevich returned from COVID-19 protocol on Jan. 24, they have had just one forward miss one game, Vladimir Tarasenko last week against Toronto.
Husso was back in goal for the Blues after Jordan Binnington had allowed just one goal at Philadelphia. Berube said they didn’t want Husso, who leads the league in goals-against average and is second in save percentage, to sit too long and they were sticking with the previously drawn up schedule for their goalies.
“We always think about things,” Berube said, “but we got a plan before the game in Philadelphia but we’re sticking to the plan, to get (Husso) back in the net against Buffalo.”
Ex-Blue Tage Thompson, part of the package the Blues gave to Buffalo in exchange for Ryan O’Reilly, tied the game at 3-3 with 7:26 to go on a power-play goal. But the Blues quickly regained the lead.
Ivan Barbashev broke up a Sabres entry into the Blues zone and Kyrou picked up the puck and started a two-on-one with Parayko trying to catch up on Kyrou’s right. Kyrou kept the puck before finally shooting. Sabres goalie Dustin Tokarski made the save but the rebound bounced up and went in off Parayko with 6:03 to play.
Buffalo had grabbed the lead just 1:25 into the game when a failed backhand clearance attempt by Robert Thomas, who wasn’t that far from the blueline, came right back at the Blues. Husso stopped a shot by Rasmus Asplund, but couldn’t control the rebound and Dylan Cozens put the rebound between his legs and just inside the far post. The goal came on just the second shot of the game for Buffalo.
Kyrou got his first goal on a power play with 12:54 to go in the first period. David Perron slipped cross ice that O’Reilly let run between his legs to Kyrou, who one-timed it home to tie the game. That snapped a streak of six games without allowing a power-play goal by Buffalo.
With 5:37 to go, Kyrou’s second goal put the Blues ahead. This time, Justin Faulk took a shot from near the blueline that Kyrou, above the hashmarks in the slot, deflected and turned into a bouncer that got past Tokarski, who was screened on the play by Schenn.
Buffalo tied the game early in the second when a shot by Rasmus Dahlin from the blueline was tipped in the slot by Kyle Okposo to make it 2-2.
It stayed that way until late in the period. Buffalo got their fourth power play and couldn’t score. As the man advantage ended, Buffalo’s Anders Bjork couldn’t control a puck and Brandon Saad skated past him, got it and went to the net. Tokarski forced Saad to go wide with the puck and when Tokarski finally went down and Saad shot, Tokarski lifted his right pad and made the save. But as Saad, Tokarski and the two Sabres chasing the play all ended away from the goal, the puck bounced out in front to a charging Walman, who drove home his second goal of the season with 35 seconds to play.
Walman has been making an effort to get more involved in the offense, feeling that’s when he’s at his best. He had 10 shot attempts on Tuesday in Philadelphia and he got his goal on his fourth on Friday, tied for the team lead at that point.
