The Russian troika drew a goal for textbooks. Amazing comeback in the NHL!
Tarasenko interrupted the goalless streak at the right time, his puck helped St. Louis move the game into overtime, where Kairu decided everything.
“St. Louis”, following a nightmarish stretch at the start of the championship, got into shape – Kairu, Buchnevich and O’Reilly played out, victories went in a continuous stream, the team rose from the bottom and hooked on the playoff zone. But her position cannot be called confident, and two sensitive defeats from Buffalo and Tampa were enough for Craig Berube to make significant changes.
The whole link of Toropchenko and Alexandrov with Pitlik fell under the knife, and Vladimir Tarasenko was transferred from the trio of Ryan O’Reilly to Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Shenn. The number 91 in recent matches was not very noticeable – he periodically scored points, but his goalless streak has already reached nine games.
At first, nothing helped – a slow start did not bode well. Florida crushed the opponent in the first period and led 3-0 in the ninth minute. The first counter-attack turned into a goal by Aaron Ekblad, then Thomas Greiss missed a not-so-obvious puck into the near corner from Radko Gudas. A few minutes later, the Czech defender dumped Tarasenko and took the puck from him, and a new counterattack was crowned with a goal by Carter Verage.
The rights to the video belong to NHL Enterprises, LP You can watch the video on the NHL website.
The history of the match with Tampa was repeated, where the Blues also dug a hole three goals deep in the ninth minute and might not get out of it. Today, the situation was further complicated by the fact that it was the second match in two days and the third in the fourth. It was necessary to get out of a reserve force in order to turn the tide of the meeting, but “St. Louis” had terrible problems even in order to make a shot on goal.
As a result, Brandon Saad still played one goal, but in the second period the global picture has not changed. Anton Lundell returned Florida to a three-goal lead, and by the third period, the situation looked hopeless. But, as coaches like to say, a game lasts 60 minutes, and sometimes more. “St. Louis” was able to find the strength and made a powerful comeback! It was started by O’Reilly – he picked up the puck behind the net and from a negative angle, from a turn, threw it from the goalkeeper’s shields into the net. With more than six minutes left, Jordan Kairu put another puck right next to the post.
Now it was a game for which it is quite possible to compete, and Tarasenko woke up at the right time. After Shanna’s injury, the Russian troika began to enter the ice, and it was with this line-up that the goal was drawn, as for a textbook. It was a perfect draw – Buchnevich gave a pass to Barbashev, who quickly found Tarasenko, and he was not going to miss today!
The rights to the video belong to NHL Enterprises, LP You can watch the video on the NHL website.
A stunning comeback ended with Kairu’s puck in overtime. It is curious that Tarasenko marked the transfer in it, although following it he managed to change and was not on the ice during the goal. “St. Louis” for the third time in their history won, having won back three goals in the third period. Previous cases were in 2019 with Chicago and in 2000 with Toronto.
“Great comeback. We didn’t start the way we wanted, in the second period we rolled in a little more, but we still didn’t play the way we should. And in the third – they played. In the second, we played a lot in a foreign zone, but we just threw the puck at random, and the opponent intercepted it. In the third period, we controlled the game, fought and no longer allowed the opponent to play on the counterattacks. If we play consistently like this, we will win many matches,” Berube said.
“This is great. To make such a comeback, losing three goals is incredible. This gives a huge boost of self-confidence, ”said the author of the winning goal.
