It's Spring Break for those of us who attend the Pennsylvania State
University. Thus, my time to talk to all of you on the Internet is kind of
limited.
Seeing as I have been intensely planning my vacation to Downingtown, PA for
the past week, I have barely had time to notice newly acquired goaltender
Jim Carey's dreadful performance against Toronto, after he relieved Brent
Johnson who gave up three goals on only five shots. Carey, the one-time
Vezina Trophy winner, used to be good. But now he isn't. He signed a
two-year deal after he cleared waivers once Boston let him go.
I did take a little notice at some of the games. So, here's a quick little
run down of what went wrong...uh, I mean what happened in the past two
weeks that were.
Them Damned Hawks
Former St. Louis Blue Doug Gilmour scored twice in a three minute span of
the first period to give Chicago a 2-0 lead after one. Although Al MacInnis
brought the deficit down to one with his 17th of the year 7:38 into the
second, the Blues couldn't comeback as they fell to the Blackhawks 3-1.
Jamie McLennan stopped only 13 of 16 shots for his 14th loss of the season.
The Bluenotes outshot Chicago 26-16, but Mark Fitzpatrick stopped 25,
giving new Blackhawks' head coach Lorne Molleken a win in his head-coaching
debut.
They Did It Again
Hey, that streak of losing or tying when trailing after two is now just a
taboo of the past.
Calgary was up 2-1 after two when Cory Stillman broke a 1-1 stalemate with
3:27 left in the second.
Then, the Blues took charge, particularly Craig Conroy.
Conroy, who opened the game's scoring 9:09 into the first, tied the game at
2-2 just 1:33 into the third. Scott Pellerin gave St. Louis the lead for
good with a short-handed goal 9:19 into the third. Conroy added an
empty-net goal for his first career hat trick as the Blues downed the
Flames 4-2. Brent Johnson stopped 27 of 29 shots for a win in his first
start of the season.
Revenge
Payback's a female dog.
The Blues got three in the first, and that would be all they'd need. Pierre
Turgeon scored two power-play goals in a 3:38 span as the Blues held on for
a 3-1 victory.
Brent Johnson helped the cause by stopping 26 of 27 shots for his second
straight victory, and, referring to the previous game report, second of the
season.
Expansion, My Tookas
The Blues have been having problems with the expansion Nashville Predators
all season.
That has officially ended.
Kelly Chase picked up his second and third goals of the season in a
33-second span late in the first, and Jim Campbell and Craig Conroy scored
in the second to beat the Predators 5-1. Brent Johnson stopped 30 of 31
shots, letting the only piece of rubber past him with 9:34 left in the
game.
The New vs. The Old
Brent Johnson had been playing good as of late. The young strapping
netminder had won his first three starts of the season, giving the team
momentum and a little solidity between the pipes.
Apparently, Blues' management didn't think that Johnson wasn't good enough
as the team signed former-Vezina Trophy winner and present-end of the bench
occupier Jim Carey, not the actor/comedian.
Maybe Blues' management was right.
Against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Johnson let in three goals on five shots
in 25:58. Carey replaced him after that, and didn't fare much better,
letting three goals on four shots as the Leafs, even though they registered
nine shots on goal the entire game, beat the Blues 4-0.
Former St. Louis Blue goalie and casualty of the Keenan Era, Curtis Joseph,
stopped all 28 shots he faced.
Against The Best
The Dallas Stars are kinda good. They've got great offense, great defense
and great netminding.
What beat the Blues wasn't their best, but it was good enough on the night
in question.
The Stars had a 4-1 lead on the Blues after two periods, but it almost
slipped away. Pierre Turgeon scored 5:39 into the third and Chris McAlpine
made it a one-goal deficit with 2:48 left.
But back-up goaltender Roman Turek stopped the Blues until the end as the
Stars escaped with a 4-3 victory.
Jim Carey stopped 18 of 22 shots to lose his first start as a member of the
Blues.
