The crowd was electric as the puck dropped in St.Louis last night as the Blues hosted the Canucks for game three of their playoff series. This was the first game of the series to be played in St.Louis, and as such, the fans would play a pivotal role as the “sixth man” throughout the game. They made their presence known early in the game when the Blues scored just over three minutes into the game with a goal from David Backes, and continued the noise as the Canucks entered the revolving door to the penalty box, offering up a 5 on 3 opportunity to St.Louis halfway through the first.
Despite the opportunities, the Blues failed to capitalize on the two-man advantage as well as a handful of powerplays, an odd occurrence seeing as their regular season powerplay success against the Canucks was at a strong 26%. This led to a swing of momentum in favor of the Canucks in the second period when they scored back to back goals within four minutes of each other, beginning at the 8 minute mark. The cheers turned to whimpers for a brief 5 minute run before Andy McDonald tied it up at 2, reinvigorating the struggling Blues and their nail-biting fans. But with the struggling St.Louis power play, it is hard to hold the fans accountable for the lack of noise in the Scottrade Center, as the supposed 8th best power play team in the league went 1 for 17 in the series at the end of game 3.
This isn’t to say that special teams weren’t a factor in the game in St.Louis; the Canucks, after taking the lead 3-2 at 1:41 in the 3rd period, proved their success with the man advantage, having scored all three of their goals on the power play last night. With the Blues’ failure of conversion on the PP and their Swiss Cheese defence on the Penalty Kill, the stadium fell silent as the Canucks extended their lead in the series 3-0, just one win away from sweeping the series. If the Canucks can maintain the level of play they have shown St.Louis thus far, the only sound you will hear coming out of the Scottrade Center on Tuesday night will be the fans singing the Blues.
For more on last night’s game check out the Canuck’s Game Summary and Highlights.