I had assumed that this was going to be a tightly contested goaltending duel, which is all fine and dandy, and totally doable if you play in the same Conference. But Henrik Lundqvist has been caught unawares, apparently, allowing a very un-Henrik like two goals in the first 20 minutes. Even more odd is that this is the first time all year that the Blues have scored two goals in the first period.
The first goal is this beauty by Patrik Berglund, who reaped the benefits of T.J. Oshie’s puck control skills. Oshie managed to keep a puck in the Rangers’ zone that a lesser forward might’ve let get away from him:
A little under four minutes later, David Perron scored his second of the year – a brilliant redirection of a Carlo Colaiacovo shot that caught Lundqvist off guard – he clearly was expecting it low, but Perron’s hand-eye coordination was able to roof it past Henrik.
The first 20 minutes was a penalty free affair, but had lots of shots on goal – the Blues lead the Rangers in that category 14-11.