Eastern Conference Champions, My Kiester!
After trading goals for the first two periods, Michel Picard's goal
with 7:47 left was the difference as the Blues went on to knock off
the lowly, injury-ridden Washington Capitals 4-2.
Scott Young contributed with a goal and an assist, and both Jamal
Mayers and Al MacInnis added a goal, with MacInnis' coming on an
empty-netter with 29 seconds remaining. Grant Fuhr stopped 27 of 29
shots for his 14th win of the season.
You Know They'll Meet 'Em In The Playoffs
If you look at the past three playoffs, this one was most likely a
preview of the playoffs.
After a scoreless first period, Detroit struck blood first with
three minutes left in the second. While Pierre Turgeon sat in the
box for a stick-holding penalty, Nicklas Lidstrom flipped a puck on
net that went passed Blues' goalie Grant Fuhr. Sergei Fedorov
slammed the floppy in the PCU to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.
2:44 later, Turgeon atoned for his mistake. With Kirk Maltby in the
box for being too rough, Turgeon redirected an Al MacInnis shot
past Bill Ranford to tie the game at 1-1. And that's the way it
stayed. The tie ended Detroit's eight-game winning streak, a streak
that started when the Wings acquired the Veteran's Committee at the
trading deadline. The Blues outshot the Wings 26-22, including a
9-2 margin in the third.
Hey, We Scored A Goal
The Blues have had some trouble with Avalanche goaltender Patrick
Roy in the past. This season, their troubles got worse.
In the two teams' three previous meeting, Colorado has scored seven
goals. The Blues haven't scored A DAMN GOAL!!! That's a span of 185
minutes that Roy hasn't let a Bluenote tally a goal against him.
That has finally ended.
Scott Young scored his 20th of the season at 2:09 of the second
period gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead and ended Roy's St. Louis shutout
streak at 207:09. But that didn't last long.
Theo Fleury tied the game just over seven minutes later and Dale
Hunter gave the 'Lanche a 2-1 lead under three minutes later.
Although, Michel Picard re-tied the game a 2-2 with 2:08 left in
the second, Peter Forsberg gave Colorado the lead for good with
8:30 left in the game to carry the Northwest Division Champions to
a 4-2 victory. The Blues could have won, but they failed to
capitalize on every one of their five power-play opportunities and
failed to take advantage of the fact they outshot Colorado 36-20.
The reason for that - Patrick Roy.
"He's played great against us all year," Blues' head coach Joel
Quenneville said. "We play our best against that team and come up
with nothing and he's a big factor. They get timely goals against
us that seem to kill us and tonight was no different."
Who Wants Phoenix???
The top four seeds in the Western Conference have been set for the
majority of the season. It has been the lower half of the
conference's playoff participants and how they're situated that has
been in question.
One of those questions was answered when the Blues took on Anaheim,
with the winner earning sole possession of fifth-place in the
conference. The Blues tried to move up to that fifth spot early in
the game, thanks to a player who missed most of the playoff race.
Geoff Courtnall, who had missed the previous 57 games due to
post-concussion syndrome, tallied the game-winning goal with 3:23
left in the first to lead the Blues to a 3-1 victory and the five
hole in the Western Conference standings, one point up on the
Mighty Ducks.
Courtnall's goal came 25 seconds after Michel Picard opened the
game's scoring with his third goal in four games. Blues' goalie
Grant Fuhr had a shut out going until 5:04 into the third period,
when Paul Kariya scored Anaheim's lone goal. Fuhr stopped 31 of 32
shots for his 15th win of the season.
A Preview of Things To Come
Phoenix was up 2-1 after 40 minutes in a meeting that would
eventually become a preview for the first round of the playoffs.
Then, the Blues woke up.
St. Louis posted a five-goal third period, including a 3:04-span
where the Blues scored three unanswered power-play goals en route
to a 6-4 victory and drawing first blood before the playoffs even
started. Scott Young picked up two goals, giving him 23 on the
year. Al MacInnis had three assists while Chris Pronger, Pavol
Demitra and Terry Yake each contributed a goal and an assist.
St. Louis, who went 4-for-7 on the power play during the game,
outshot the Coyotes 35-26. Grant Fuhr stopped 22 shots for his 16th
win of the season.
Some Finale
Last year, the last game of the season for both the St. Louis Blues
and the Los Angeles Kings was against each other. It was a game
full of passion, as the two teams showed the city of Los Angeles
the most fighting it had seen since the Rodney King riots. This
year, the ultimate game of the season didn't matter.
Blair Atcheynum scored twice as the Blues opened up a 3-0 lead on
the Kings and held on for a 3-2 victory in the final game of the
regular season. The game was the final regular season game that
will be held in the Great Western Forum. The Kings will move to the
new Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles starting next season.
The win was Joel Quenneville's 100th victory behind the Blues'
bench, making him the fifth coach in club history to reach that
mark.
The playoffs
The Blues now prepare for the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round of
the 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blues took the season series
2-1-1. The always challenging job of defending the Coyotes was made
a little easier, thanks to Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher, who
broke Jeremy Roenick's jaw last week. Hatcher will sit seven games
and must watch his team get upset by the Oilers again.
