Blues snap five-game losing skid with 3-0 win over New Jersey
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ivan Barbashev said he had a good feeling when he arrived at the Enterprise Center on Tuesday.
It showed in his play.
Barbashev scored twice and the St. Louis Blues snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
It was the third multigoal game of Barbashev’s career and first this season. Two of those games have come against the Devils.
Jaden Schwartz also scored and Jordan Binnington made 17 saves for his seventh career shutout and second this season as the defending Stanley Cup champions and Western Conference leaders won for the first time since Feb. 4.
Louis Domingue made 36 saves for the Devils, who were shut out for the seventh time this season.
“We didn't defend hard enough,” Devils center Kyle Palmieri said. “I think we weren't ending plays. It's a good team over there. They're going to take advantage of that and they did so and Louie stood on his head for us and we didn't give him much support.”
The Blues outshot the Devils 13-6 in the first period, but Domingue came up with several big saves to keep the game scoreless, including a stop on David Perron's one-timer early. He also gloved an Alex Pietrangelo drive midway through the period.
Domingue continued to frustrate the Blues early in the second period with two dynamic saves to rob Ryan O’Reilly and Carl Gunnarsson on St. Louis' power play.
Barbashev gave the Blues a 1-0 lead on their 20th shot of the game, finding a loose puck in the slot and scoring his first goal in 13 games at the 9:21 mark of the second.
“We did a real good job with puck possession tonight,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I thought hanging onto it. I thought that the guys did a real good job of not turning it over for the most part, just making smart hockey plays. Puck support was excellent in all three zones. You feel like that's been building for the last couple of days.”
Binnington only faced 11 shots through the first two periods but came up big on Wayne Simmonds' chance with 4.8 seconds left in the second.
Barbashev gave the Blues a 2-0 lead 5:27 into the third period, finishing on a perfect feed from Sammy Blais.
Schwartz made it 3-0 with 5:15 left, scoring his fifth goal in 10 career games against the Devils.
Binnington made several saves during a four-minute power play for New Jersey in the third and was helped when Pavel Zacha hit the post.
“A win's the priority, but you know, we'll take the shutout,” Binnington said. “It's a good feeling for the team just knowing that we really locked it down.”
Devils defenseman Will Butcher left the game in the first period after blocking a shot.
“He'll be OK,” Devils coach Alain Nasreddine said. “Right now I don't really have an update but before I was told that nothing too serious, but we'll get a better evaluation tomorrow.”
HAPPY HOMECOMING
Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester met with his teammates during the morning skate. Bouwmeester collapsed due to a cardiac episode during the team’s game in Anaheim on Feb. 11 and had a cardioverter defibrillator implanted into his chest at UCI Medical Center in Orange County, California, where he had been hospitalized until returning to St. Louis on Sunday.
“I was really happy, really happy to see him,” Barbashev said. “Just talking out there, some jokes, and he's in a good mood so everybody was happy to see him.”
NOTES: The Blues traded a second-round pick in 2020 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2021 to Montreal in exchange for D Marco Scandella.
UP NEXT
New Jersey: Hosts San Jose on Thursday.
St. Louis: Hosts Arizona on Thursday.
