Those who showed up to Scottrade Center to watch an ice hockey game perhaps didn't intend on seeing a track meet.
Under normal circumstances, the Blues wouldn't want to engage in such activities with the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. But when you've got a working line trio of Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn piling up points by the bushel, it doesn't matter what type of pace the Blues would prefer. Just jump on that unit's back and follow suit.
And that's exactly what the Blues got in an 8-3 bludgeoning of the hapless Edmonton Oilers before 18,819 boisterous fans that witnessed that line produce 12 points (four for each) and the second Gordie Howe hat trick of Tarasenko's NHL career.
The Blues (16-5-1), winners of three in a row and 10 of 13 (10-3-0), outworked, out-hustled, out-goaltended, out-defensed, out-played ... you name it, they did it. And as Oilers coach Todd McLellan said after the game, "In every facet of the game we were second. It wasn't even close."
No coach, it wasn't.
The eight goals were the most the Blues scored since March 30, 2011 in a 10-3 victory against the Detroit Red Wings, and Schenn extended his NHL career-high point streak to eight games with two goals and two assists, giving him seven goals and 19 assists in that stretch. Tarasenko had two goals and two assists, and Schwartz added a goal and three assists.
In the words of the late Jackie Gleason in 'The Honeymooners,' the Blues sent the Oilers to the moon. "Bang! Zoom!"
Oh, and to top it off, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester returned after missing the first 21 games with a fractured left ankle.
"No, but it was pretty nice," Bouwmeester said if he expected that kind of return. "For a game to get adjusted, that was pretty nice. You never expect to score that many goals. It's fun when you're part of it."
Indeed.
The Blues scored twice in the first, two more times in the second and four times in a seven-goal third period when the game got really crazy.
"Getting a win. That's about it," Blues coach Mike Yeo said when asked what he liked most about this game. "Obviously the score is exciting, we scored lots of goals. ... There was lots of good things that got to that point. A little bit disappointed we gave up a few at the end. I would like to tighten the ship a little more and play a bit better for Jake (Allen) in that instance; I hate to say it, but sometimes it's human nature too."
Dmitrij Jaskin, Scottie Upshall and Paul Stastny scored, and Allen made 26 saves for the Blues, who head for a day off on Wednesday before skating on Thanksgiving ahead of two huge division home games Friday against Nashville and Saturday against Minnesota at home.
But there was plenty to go around as far as credit is concerned with the Blues, who got scoring from all four lines.
"Obviously, we got offense from everybody tonight, that's a nice thing when everyone shows up on the score sheet," Yeo said. "It was a team effort, no question. I wish we could have stayed tighter at the end and not given up a couple because Jake made some saves that gave us a chance to get to the point where we were. I wish we would have finished a little bit harder there, but all in all, a pretty complete game tonight."
Schenn, Schwartz and Tarasenko led the cavalry, and they didn't just do it with their skills, they did it by sticking up for each other, as Tarasenko did in the second period when he took exception to Matt Benning's near knee-to-knee hit on Schenn at 6 minutes, 55 seconds of the second period.
The Blues had already built a 3-0 lead by then and Tarasenko went right after the Oilers defenseman, and the crowd erupted. It was the final piece to Tarasenko's Gordie Howe hat trick after scoring in the first and setting up Schwartz in the second.
"I don't fight really often, you know this, but I think it was on purpose, like knee on knee and this kind of stuff, I don't like in hockey," Tarasenko said. "It's emotions too, you know. I don't want to look like a good fighter, but it just happens sometimes."
Does it earn the respect of teammates?
"We'll see tomorrow. I don't know today," Tarasenko said with a laugh. "Maybe after tomorrow, tomorrow's day off, but it's part of the game and I don't feel like nothing wrong with it."
It indeed does get the respect of teammates and coaches.
"That was my fault, coming through the middle with my head down, kind of picked it up last second and maybe I’m lucky it wasn’t a bigger defenseman trying to hit me there," Schenn said. "Obviously hats off to [Tarasenko]. We don’t need that guy fighting, but I guess he decided to drop the mitts and I think you look at that from a team perspective and guys are willing to stick up for one another and that goes a long way. When you see one of our better players, our best player, doing that, it makes everyone want to do it.
"I turned around and I didn’t even know he was asking that guy to fight. Like I said, it’s obviously a team thing to do, him sticking up for me. That goes a very long way throughout the year when you see Vladi dropping his gloves and sticking up for a teammate."
Tarasenko had some blood on his finger, visible in the penalty box, but it goes to show the lengths that this Blues team will go and the lengths they will play for one another.
"Obviously we don't want 'Vladi' to get into fights, but he certainly sent a message to his teammates that he's got their back there," Yeo said. "I'd say so (it earns respect). If you saw the way the bench got up, I was behind the players so I could hear what they were saying, so I'd say so. What it is, you don't want someone like him fighting and then he breaks his hand, but by same token, that stuff's contagious. We've seen a lot of that where guys are sacrificing, whether it's, blocking a shot or jumping in there for each other, guys have been doing a lot of that."
The Blues took a 1-0 lead on Tarasenko's shot that double-deflected off Connor McDavid's stick, then off Adam Larsson's stick at 3:13 of the first period.
Jaskin made it 2-0 after outworking Ryan Strome off the wall with the puck. His wrist shot from inside the right circle beat Talbot high, short side on the Blues' third shot.
Schwartz's 100th NHL goal came at 3:52 of the second period to make it 3-0 on a rebound, and Schenn scored with 30 seconds remaining to make it 4-0.
"Good to hit it," Schwartz said of his 100th goal. "Obviously I want to get a lot more. It's exciting and I never really imagined doing that as a kid, so it's pretty cool."
Lucic scored at 6:09 of the third period off a McDavid feed to make it 4-1 and break Allen's shutout bid. Upshall made it 5-1 at 7:39 on a pretty tic-tac-toe play with linemates Kyle Brodziak and Chris Thorburn.
Tarasenko's second made it 6-1 at 12:21; Schenn's 10th of the season made it 7-1 at 14:37; Draisaitl scored at 15:11 to make it 7-2; Stastny made it 8-2 at 16:58, and Nurse finished the scoring with his first of the season at 18:49 for the 8-3 final.
Milan Lucic, Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse scored third-period goals for the Oilers (7-12-2), who lost for the fifth time in six games. Laurent Brossoit allowed six goals on 37 shots after replacing Cam Talbot after he allowed two goals on three shots.
"Yeah, we're playing for each other," Schwartz said. "Everyone's contributing in their own way. We're all doing the little things, playing a great team game right now. I think we're making it hard on other teams, we're checking hard and we're getting lots of chances because of that. Just rolling over the lines and the 'D' are doing a good job of jumping in and making plays as well."
