"We came out, we hunted, we got on them"

O'Reilly, Perron, Saad make marks in third period, help Blues take command, 

game over in 6-3 win over Toronto; team responds properly after Montreal loss

By LOU KORAC
Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron and Brandon Saad have been around the block enough to know when it's go time.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly (right) looks to make a pass while being

defended by Toronto's Michael Bunting on Saturday night.

Playing against one of the top teams in the league, in their barn, tie game, one period to go, it was that time.

On the heels of a lackluster loss against the Montreal Canadiens, who happen to be the worst team in the NHL this season, the Blues had the chance to put up the proper response against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night, on Hockey Night in Canada.

Each of the other three lines for the Blues had already produced something. The only combo missing was Saad-O'Reilly-Perron, but that line came through with flying colors, producing two goals in clutch situations, one each from Saad and O'Reilly, and the Blues responded from that 3-2 overtime loss to Montreal with a 6-3 win against the Maple Leafs.

It was a 3-3 game, one in which the Blues (29-14-6) had squandered away a two-goal lead, and for three veterans with a combined 2,521 regular-season games' worth of NHL experience, it didn't take much for them to know it was their time to shine.

It may not have been reflective in the numbers (11 shots for and 12 shots against for a Corsi rating of 47.83 percent, and a nine Fenwick-for, 10 Fenwick-against for a 47.37 percent rating), but what mattered was the line had seven scoring chances for and five against, including two high danger scoring chances for.

"We started the game, we weren't really generating a lot as a line," O'Reilly said. "We were working hard and still possessing the puck like we wanted to, but we knew kind of to stick with it and knew that we'd generate more as the game went on. 

"In between the second and third there, we just looked at each other and knew it was time to step up and I thought we did a great job. We came out, we hunted, we got on them and some big plays there that obviously changed the game."

Saad's 200th NHL goal broke the tie and gave the Blues a 4-3 lead stemming from a great high-low pass from Colton Parayko and ensuing cross-crease feed from Perron to set up Saad with his 16th of the season at 4:38 of the third period, and O'Reilly was able to tip home Niko Mikkola's left point shot past Jack Campbell at 10:50 to basically seal the deal.

"I feel it was only a matter of time for those guys," said center Brayden Schenn's whose 100th goal with the Blues gave them a 3-2 lead in the second period. "All three of those guys play the right way every single night. They work extremely hard, good teammates. Nice to see them get rewarded. 

"Great play by all three guys on the first goal with Parayko, Perron and Saad to finish it and then obviously O'Reilly kind of iced it for us with the tip there. Three guys that kind of bring the same attitude and effort to the rink every night. Nice to see them get rewarded."

Coach Craig Berube reunited O'Reilly and Perron back together Tuesday in Ottawa, and Saad complements them with his two-way game and ability to create and score.

"I think it goes back a couple games ago where I thought they were really hard on pucks and controlling pucks in the offensive zone," Berube said. "Obviously they do a good job defensively, but I think it was coming. Personally I do. When you spend time in the offensive zone and you're strong on pucks, you're going to find opportunities to make plays and get some opportunities to score, and that's what they did."

It was a case where the Blues would have felt like they would have left Toronto empty-handed had they not come up with a performance in the third period after the way they sputtered along again the Canadiens on Thursday.

They were much better in all three zones, they put pucks in the right areas and were able to retrieve them properly to be able to execute better in the offensive zone. And they took advantage of Toronto's vulnerabilities off the rush.

"We did a good job of skating and forechecking well and when we did that, we got the puck back and had some good looks," O'Reilly said. "It was nice to score six goals. It's always good, especially against that team, it's very good. To only give up three against them, it's always a tough challenge. Some guys made some big plays for us. It's nice to score.

"I think it just started with everyone on the ice. I thought we did a good job of getting the puck out supporting each other. We put it in and hunted. We hunted them and had a good forecheck. It was a nice play up to the point and it was just kind of get to the net, and I think that's the important thing, especially for myself not scoring a lot of goals lately, that's where they're going to come, by me getting to the net and us as a group getting to those hard areas. It was a great shot-pass by Mikkola and I was able to get a tip on it."

Unlike Thursday, the Blues never trailed in this game. Toronto, which had won seven in a row and scored four or more in each of those seven wins at home, chased the Blues down twice but were never able to get the lead itself.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues players (from left) David Perron, Ryan O'Reilly, Brandon Saad and

Tyler Bozak congratulate Brayden Schenn after scoring Saturday.

"We've been getting contributions all year from everybody and it's got to continue to do that," Berube said. "It was really nice tonight that we got all four lines involved in the offense. [Ville] Husso did a great job in the third period shutting that game down for us."

There was really no other choice since the Blues have eight guys on the roster from Ontario and/or Quebec.

"I think it just all comes with being in Toronto, Saturday night, Hockey Night in Canada, a lot of our guys on our team grew up watching it," Schenn said. "We have a lot of Toronto boys. You knew our guys were going to come to the rink with a solid effort tonight in front of friends and family. I don't think we had the response we needed to, whether it was playing the Canadiens or obviously a little different playing in front of no fans and stuff like that. Coming here, it's always exciting playing here in this arena. Guys stepped up tonight. We knew it was going to be a heck of challenge. They have a lot of lethal players over there that can put the puck in the back of the net. They still had chances, but 'Huus' made saves and I thought we still checked hard and worked hard tonight to limit them."