St. Louis Blues Take Tough Loss to New York Rangers in Season Opener
In the St. Louis Blues’ 2014-15 regular season opener, it was clear that there are reasons to be excited about this incarnation of the team. Unfortunately for the Blues, that excitement didn’t quite translate into a victory, and they fell 3-2 to the defending Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers.
New acquisition Paul Stastny had a quality game, coming back from a scary second period lower-body injury to score a goal in the third period of his first game as a Blue. The goal was originally credited to Vladimir Tarasenko, who had an impressive game in his own right, but was re-credited to Stastny after a postgame review because of a deflection of Tarasenko’s shot.
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We also saw great things from forward Jaden Schwartz, who missed most of training camp while sitting out due to a contract dispute. The 22-year-old scored the Blues’ first goal of the season at 1:32 in the third period, then provided the assist on the Stastny goal later in that same period.
One thing that the Blues will be looking to improve on going forward is their discipline, as the team picked up 15 penalty minutes on Thursday night. A rare fight from T.J. Oshie was a highlight, but penalties like Ian Cole‘s third period hooking call, an unsportsmanlike conduct call against Steve Ott, and a slashing penalty for Ryan Reaves should be cut down on as the season goes on.
The Blues will look to pick up their first win of the season on Saturday night at Scottrade Center against the Calgary Flames, who opened their season with a late-night matchup against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday evening.