The sweep of the NHL from Monday night starts in St Louis where the Blues rallied from a 0-2 hole to defeat the Arizona Coyotes, 5-2.
The win pushed the Blues into a first place tie with the Dallas Stars in the Central Division with two games remaining.
Both clubs have 105 points.
Brian Elliott helped Blues rally past Coyotes – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
All this despite the need for a MASH unit in St Louis with the injuries that have ravaged the Blues.
“It’s depth, it’s character,” Alex Pietrangelo said. “[Blues general manager Doug Armstrong] put this thing together. You see the acquisitions, it all happens for a reason. I don’t think we’ve played a full game yet with our full lineup. It just goes to show what we’re capable of when we have everybody back.”
Kyle Brodziak (two goals), Vladimir Tarasenko, Troy Brouwer, and Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues in the rally.
“You know they’re a good team and they’re gonna come back,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of the Blues. “I thought we were alright in the first, moved the puck, we were opportunistic, but once the penalties start, it took us out of rhythm.”
St Louis finally found their game with a shorthanded goal to spark the effort from Brodziak.
“No, I think really the whole second period, we really started to find our game,” Brodziak said. “We got a fortunate bounce on the penalty kill and turned out to be a goal, but it really started earlier than that. We really started turning our game around in the second period.
“We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be [in the first period]. Sometimes that happens. You come home late last night, second game of back-to-back, but the energy in the room after the first was really good. Guys just got ourselves refocused and I thought as a group did a really good job in the second period finding our game back.”
Antoine Vermette and Anthony Duclair gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the first period.
“We didn’t start so well; I don’t even know how to describe it,” Brian Elliott said. “We managed to kind of catch ourselves and the guys really pulled it through. They had a tough game [Sunday] night and back-to-back is not easy playing the three periods the way we did. We got stronger as the game went on. We let in the first two, but five unanswered, we’ll take that.”
In the Atlantic, the Florida Panthers put distance between themselves and the rest of the pack with a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Rocco Grimaldi scored twice and Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov added goals in the win.
“We wanted to clinch a spot in the playoffs and we did it, and the next goal for us is to win the division, and we’re almost there,” Grimaldi said. “We have a few games left to get as many points as we can and obviously we are pretty close, but we can’t be satisfied with where we are at.”
Colin Greening had two goals for the Leafs and TJ Brennan also scored for Toronto.
“They beat us once at home and they should have beat us the first game we played here,” Jaromir Jagr, said. “They’re not a bad team. They have nothing to lose, so they put all the pressure on us. They have a lot of scoring power.”
For the Leafs, the disappointment is with the veteran effort on the roster.
“I thought our first period was good and our third period was good; I didn’t think some of our veteran people were nearly competitive enough,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “In the second period, we weren’t nearly good enough, and that cost us. They got rolling around on us, and we went to the penalty box too much. That led to momentum, and in the end, it got us in a bad spot.”
Speaking of disappointment the sweep turns to Columbus where the Blue Jackets lost to the New York Rangers Monday, 4-2.
The disappointment resides in the Rangers where a team of talent continues to infuriate and befuddle onlookers.
The win clinched a playoff berth for the Rangers who lost three straight games before Monday in lackluster, matter-of-fact fashion.
“It’s a good feeling for sure,” defenseman Marc Staal said. “We would have liked to have gotten it done the last couple of games but tonight we got it done. We deserved to get in.”
Once sitting in the second spot in the Metropolitan Division, the Rangers are now in scramble mode to avoid a wild card spot.
“We can still work for home ice and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.
Home ice or not, it is the lack of heart that still shows in a highly paid roster.
“It’s tough to get to the dance,” Vigneault said. “People don’t realize how hard that is to get the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup.
“We finally got our checkmark. In order for our guys to get the checkmark, you’ve got to play some good hockey. This group for the most part has played some good hockey.”
Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Dan Boyle, and Mats Zuccarello scored for the Rangers.
Nick Foligno scored both Jackets goals.
Derek Stepan’s empty-netter sealed Rangers playoff berth clincher – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I really enjoyed playing with those two. It’s simple, straight ahead,” Foligno said. “You simplify your game and sometimes it comes easier to you.
“I just let everything go tonight, played the game. It felt good. I needed to do that a lot earlier in the year.”
Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the win.
“It’s a great feeling, a proud feeling,” Lundqvist said. “It hasn’t been pretty at times; at times it’s been great. But playing in this League it’s a grind and it’s about finding ways to win a lot of games.”
Ryan McDonagh left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury that appeared to be his hand when he blocked a shot.
He is to be re-evaluated Tuesday.
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