ELMONT, N.Y. 鈥 And just like that, the Blues had become a team that jumps to the lead.
After they went seven straight games allowing the first goal of the game, the Blues had scored first in five of their last six games entering Saturday night鈥檚 contest against the Islanders at UBS Arena.
But New York tallied first in that one, late in the first period en route to a 3-1 victory. Before that, since Nov. 12 no NHL team had scored first more often than the Blues, even if that hadn鈥檛 translated to wins (最新杏吧原创 was 2-2-1 in those five games).
鈥淲e鈥檙e on our toes more,鈥 Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e just more direct early. At the same time, when you get that feeling a little bit, you have to sustain it. When we score one early last game, 10 seconds in, that鈥檚 when you have to go in and try and get that next one right away. That鈥檚 kind of the mentality you have to have. I think our starts have been better. Just everyone in general, a little bit more ready to play.鈥
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On Thursday night against the Sharks, the Blues scored the fastest goal of the NHL season so far when Nathan Walker scored just 11 seconds into the game. Like in the previous four games in which the Blues scored first, they allowed a game-tying goal (Alexander Wennberg tied it at both 1 and 2) before winning in a shootout.
Blues coach Drew Bannister watches from the bench as his team begins a shootout against San Jose on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, at Enterprise Center. They won 3-2 off Jake Neighbours鈥 goal.
鈥淭he first five minutes have been good for us, and we鈥檝e been able to build our game from there,鈥 Blues coach Drew Bannister said. 鈥淲e want to continue to do that, play on our toes and be aggressive.鈥
The Blues will need to continue their strong starts as they opened a stretch of seven road games of their next eight on Saturday night. They will play all three New York-area teams before Thanksgiving, then have one game at home vs. the Flyers before embarking on a four-game trip through western Canada in early December.
The Blues entered the trip as a slightly below-average road team, carrying a 4-5-1 record into UBS Arena. Their minus-9 goal differential on the road was among the bottom third of the league, but that鈥檚 also weighed down by a 8-1 thumping in Ottawa in late October.
What does the Blues鈥 road game look like?
鈥淎 hard, simple game,鈥 Schenn said. 鈥淏uilding your game right from puck drop and taking care of pucks and doing the little details that ultimately win you hockey games. Obviously, we don鈥檛 play a flashy style of game. The harder and simpler we are, it鈥檚 suiting us better this way.鈥
Sundqvist back in
After two games as a healthy scratch, Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist re-entered the lineup on Saturday night as Zack Bolduc was a healthy scratch. Sundqvist entered Saturday with two goals in 12 games, and was instrumental on the penalty-killing unit while Robert Thomas was injured.
Asked what his message was to Sundqvist, Bannister said: 鈥淚 want to leave that between me and the players. I think that鈥檚 the best way it鈥檚 kept.鈥
Sundqvist was to play on a line with Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker, as Radek Faksa was promoted to skate with Dylan Holloway and Mathieu Joseph.
鈥淔or us, we trust him on the PK,鈥 Bannister said on Sundqvist. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a responsible player in the d-zone, he鈥檚 good on faceoffs. Just want him to be a solid veteran out on the ice for us that does the right things.鈥
The Blues made one other change, this one on defense as Corey Schueneman exited as Matthew Kessel was back in for 最新杏吧原创.
