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“I think it’s one of those things where you gain momentum from it,” Bouwmeester said. “We were good the last game, we had a lot of practice tonight, had a couple pretty early and from that you gain confidence, get the other team back in their heels. It makes it tough.”

The Blues’ penalty kill wasn’t at its best in the exhibition season, but Shaw and the coaches saw the group making progress as the team’s new players have learned their roles.

“We’ve done a good job of getting in shot lanes and sticks on puck so they don’t get through,” Shaw said. “You go through some stretches where you kill pretty well and you give up shots. It just happens in the first two games that we’ve minimized the zone time that power plays have had against us so they haven’t had that chance to set things up and establish their game. We’ve sort of stayed ahead of the curve a little bit that way and it’s showed up in those stats.

“We were giving goals up (in the preseason) but we were liking how it was developing and how some off the newer guys – (Maxim) Lapierre for example, we want him to be a big part of it. It’s a bit of a learning curve there. We do things a little bit different there and ask guys to do things a little different way. He’s been outstanding. We’re trying to give (Vladimir) Sobotka a little bit more of a prominent role and he’s really grasped that as well. We’ve got a lot of guys who contribute and it’s kind of a reflection of our pride in our defensive game and that’s sort of where it manifests.”

“Penalty killing is just hard work,” Bouwmeester said. “The way everyone tries to kill penalties now you try to pressure teams on the entry and not give them time to set up and try to create some chaos.”

The penalty kill may have turned the game early in the second period. With the Blues up 1-0, Florida had a power play when Barret Jackman went off for two minutes for tripping. Florida was, not surprisingly, stymied, and then just 28 seconds after the power play ended, Vladimir Tarasenko jammed in a rebound of a shot by Jaden Schwartz and a chance for the game to be tied was quickly transformed into a 2-0 lead that the Blues quickly extended to 5-0 by period’s end with four goals in 6 minutes, 32 seconds.

“I think every time you kill a penalty you gain a bit of momentum,” Shaw said. “Sometimes you gain more than other times. That certainly was a key time to have a kill. Whenever we go a man down, if we have confidence we can kill it off, it always gives you a much better chance to win.”

On Saturday, it gave them a great chance.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 10.06.2013

719834 St Louis Blues

Blues declaw the Panthers

4 hours ago • By Jeremy Rutherford jrutherford@post-dispatch.com 314-444-7135

The skeptics wanted proof. They’re getting it.

After back-to-back playoff exits, there remains a percentage of Blues’ fans who understandably would like the team to give them a reason to believe that expectations should be any different in 2013-14.

It’s only two games — please note that the Blues started 6-1 last season — but the reasons are plentiful through the first two games of the season. Really the only problem is picking a place to start.

The Blues manhandled Florida 7-0 Saturday at Scottrade Center, a game in which goaltender Jaroslav Halak put his name in the record books, breaking Glenn Hall’s franchise record for career shutouts with his 17th.

The club improved to 2-0 and will have a few days off before continuing its five-game homestand Wednesday against Chicago.

Ken Hitchcock will find some shortcomings to work on in the coming days, and there are some if you look hard, but after 120 minutes of hockey, the offense is clicking, special teams are humming, and the goaltending is back to blanking opponents.

“I thought it was a really good team effort,” said Jaden Schwartz, who had the Gordie Howe hat-trick with one goal, two assists and a late-game fight, as the lopsided affair turned ugly with a combined 100 penalty minutes. “All four lines were playing well. Defense ... Jaro was kicking again. It’s a fun locker room to come into after a game like that. Everyone is energized and we’re working hard, so it’s fun.”

Almost everyone is scoring.

Seven players helped put a touchdown on the board for the Blues Saturday: Schwartz, Brenden Morrow, Vladimir Tarasenko, Derek Roy, Alexander Steen, Ryan Reaves and Patrik Berglund. Each of the team’s four lines contributed a goal.

The club has repeatedly said production would be a group effort and so far it’s played out precisely that way. The team has netted 11 goals in two games and they’ve been scored by 10 players, with Steen as the only one with two.

“We’re going to do it by committee,” forward Chris Stewart said. “It’s going to be a different guy every night. There’s no one on this team that comes in here after the game and looks at a stat sheet and says, ‘I got a couple of goals tonight.’”

For as lopsided as the score was Saturday, though, the game was tight through 32½ minutes. The difference between the teams at that point was a first-period power-play goal by Brenden Morrow, who beat Florida starter Tim Thomas with his 250th career goal.

The Blues were clinging to that 1-0 lead. In fact, if not for three saves by Halak early in the game, and another on former Blue Brad Boyes five minutes into the second period, the game could have been a lot different.

“He made three good saves on the first shift (of the game),” Hitchcock said. “They were hammering away there, trying to push him into the net. He made five or six quality saves in the first period, just to get us to the power play to score.”

The Blues broke the game open beginning with Tarasenko’s goal with 7:29 left in the middle frame. He cleaned up a rebound, providing a 2-0 lead with his first goal of the season.

A player’s “first goal of the season” has become a common phrase and it continued moments later.

Schwartz netted his first 2:19 after Tarasenko, a brilliant wrist shot that capped off a solid sequence. Vladimir Sobotka stole a puck behind the net and fed Schwartz in front for a 3-0 lead, one which the Blues would have been happy with had it stayed that way.

But before the teams headed to the locker room for the second intermission, Roy and Steen got in on the action.

With the Blues again working behind the net, Stewart fed Roy in front for his first goal of the year, handing the Blues a 4-0 lead.

Then with under one minute to play in the period, Steen had a clear-cut breakaway and was tugged on by Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson, leading to a penalty shot. Steen made the shot with a backhanded move, giving the Blues four goals in a span of 6 minutes, 32 seconds.

Steen’s conversion was the Blues’ third straight successful penalty shot for the club, which has also made seven of its last eight.

So instead, the club went into the intermission with a commanding 5-0 lead.

The Panthers replaced Thomas with backup Jacob Markstrom to start the third period and he allowed two goals. Reaves had a 2-on-1 with Sobotka and elected to shoot himself, beating Markstrom with a rooftop shot.

“I was thinking he already had (an assist) ... it was my turn to get a snipe,” Reaves said, laughing.

Berglund later scored a tap-in in front of the net, and Halak closed out the victory with 19 saves and surpassed Hall for the team’s shutout record.

“I know he was a great goaltender and a Hall of Famer,” Halak said. “It’s a special feeling, but it’s only the start of the season. We’ve got two wins, I’ve got one shutout. But I wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates.”

The Blues are looking strong, but as Schwartz reminded everyone, it’s still early.

“We don’t want to get too high when we’re playing well,” he said. “We want to be happy with our performance, and we should be good about it, but we’ve got to come to work tomorrow and make sure we’re doing the things we’re doing and improve on the things we can.”

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 10.06.2013

719835 St Louis Blues

Blues will roll with Halak in net

18 hours ago • By Jeremy Rutherford jrutherford@post-dispatch.com 314-444-7135

The plan entering the 2013-14 season was to give goaltender Jaroslav Halak the bulk of the starts in net. With as light as the schedule is early, the Blues will roll with Halak for the foreseeable future.

Halak will backstop the Blues again tonight when the club faces the Florida Panthers at Scottrade Center at 7 p.m.

It's possible that backup Brian Elliott may not see a start until the Blues play back-to-back games in the middle of the month. After tonight's game, the club will have three days off before hosting Chicago Wednesday and two days off between games against the New York Rangers Oct. 12 and San Jose Oct. 15.

"There's such a big break between games," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We'll go with Jaro tonight and then see how it goes...with all these breaks between games there's no reason one guy can't play to start the season. You're looking probably on back-to-backs and three (games) in four nights we're going to certainly make the move then. Brian's last two days have been the best we've ever seen from him this year, so he looks like he's ready to go."

Halak, who made 28 saves in Thursday's 4-2 win over Nashville, is 7-1 in his career against Florida with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .940 save-percentage.

"Jaro had a strong outing," Hitchcock said. "We're kind of just focused on one day at a time and seeing how Jaro feels. He played very well in Game 1 and we just want to keep going with it."

***

TONIGHT'S PROJECTED LINEUP

Alexander Steen-David Backes-T.J. Oshie

Brenden Morrow-Derek Roy-Chris Stewart

Jaden Schwartz-Patrik Berglund-Vladimir Tarasenko

Vladimir Sobotka-Maxim Lapierre-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo

Jordan Leopold-Kevin Shattenkirk

Barret Jackman-Roman Polak

Goalie

***

Forward

Jonathan Huberdeau-Aleksander Barkov-Brad Boyes

Jesse Winchester-Scott Gomez-Tomas Kopecky

Scottie Upshall-Shawn Matthias-Krys Barch

Defensemen

Tom Gilbert-Brian Campbell

Dmitry Kulikov-Mike Weaver

Ryan Whitney-Erik Gudbranson

Goalie

Tim Thomas

STEEN RETURNS

Alexander Steen was back at practice today and will be in the lineup tonight.

Steen was high-sticked by Nashville's Victor Bartley in Thursday's opener. He missed Friday's practice while visiting the dentist, where he had two new teeth inserted on the bottom row.

"It's nothing," said Steen, who wanted to talk more about his white Chuck Taylor converse shoes than his new white teeth.

***

Brenden Morrow had a whirlwind day Thursday, flying back to St. Louis from Detroit, where he resolved his visa issues.

For that reason, Hitchcock monitored Morrow's ice time, which wound up at 11 minutes, 32 seconds. With a day of rest, Morrow can expect to see increased playing time tonight against Florida.

"We watched that closely, managed it," Hitchcock said. "Some days, that's what it's going to be. It's going to be 11 (minutes), it's going to be 15...some days when we're chasing games it's going to be 17. Depends how he looks too."

Hitchcock said that Morrow, who didn't sign with the Blues until a couple of weeks into camp, is quickly catching up to speed.

"He's probably 75-80 percent where he's going to be at, but getting better everyday," Hitchcock said. "Hands are catching up to the feet now."

***

EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

I didn't have a solid answer at the time, but I checked into it and here's what I found out:

The average skater goes through ...

• 4-5 pairs of gloves

• 2-4 pairs of skates

• 60-80 sticks

• 2 pairs of pants

The average goalie goes through...

• 3 sets of gloves

• 3 sets of pads

***

ODDS & ENDS

• The Florida Panthers will be in St. Louis for a total of four days. Some attended the Cardinals' playoff game Friday and there are plans to take in the Rams' game Sunday.

• Florida rookie Aleksander Barkov, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the NHL draft last June, made history with his goal Thursday against Dallas. He is the eighth-youngest player in NHL history to score his first NHL goal, according to Elias, and he became the youngest player (18 years, 31 days) to score in the league in 70 years.

• Blues captain David Backes has five goals in six career games against Florida.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 10.06.2013

719836 St Louis Blues

Blues offense runs wild in big win over Panthers

Published: October 5, 2013 Updated 5 hours ago

By NORM SANDERS — News-Democrat

ST. LOUIS — Four-goal eruptions in one period by the St. Louis Blues aren't exactly a common occurrence at Scottrade Center -- or any other NHL arena for that matter.

But the Blues ran the Florida Panthers right out of the building Saturday with a torrid four-goal blitz in the second period on their way to a 7-0 victory.

Of the Blues' 11 goals this season, 10 are by different scorers. Alexander Steen, who scored on a penalty shot Saturday, is the only one with two.

"We've known all along that we probably don't have that superstar talent," said Blues winger Brenden Morrow, who had a goal and assist. "But it's a grinding team that is solid throughout and anyone can be the hero any given night. Tonight we put seven in and I think it was spread out throughout the lineup.

"That makes it really hard to defend and compete against when you've got all cylinders pumping."

The shutout was Jaroslav Halak's record 17th with the Blues, breaking the previous franchise standard of 16 set by Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall.

"I know he was a great goaltender and in the Hall of Fame," said Halak, who has 26 shutouts in his career. "I'm glad I passed him with shutouts but I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates. They were great again tonight, especially on the PK (penalty kill)."

The Blues killed off seven Florida power plays and through two games are a perfect 11-for-11.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock pointed to an early stretch of hot goaltending by Halak that set the stage for the win.

"He made three good saves on the first shift," Hitchcock said. "They were hammering away there trying to push him into the net. He made five or six quality saves in the first period just to get us to the power play to score.

"It was pretty furious at the start of the game there."

Then the furious attack on the Florida net began.

In a span of less that seven minutes, the Blues got second-period goals by Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Derek Roy before Steen added a fourth one on a penalty shot.

The seven goals by the Blues (2-0) is the highest total by the club since a 10-3 victory over Detroit on March 30, 2011.

"It's by committee, it's a different guy every night," Blues winger Chris Stewart said. "There's no one on this team that comes out here after the game and looks at the stat sheet."

When Jacob Markstrom replaced Panthers starting goaltender Tim Thomas in net at the start of the third period, it marked the second straight game the suddenly goal-hungry Blues had chased a starter from the game.

Markstrom fared no better as Blues' fourth-liner Ryan Reaves beat him cleanly with a sizzling wrist shot at 2:44 of the third period to make it 6-0.

The crowd had barely settled into their seats when Patrik Berglund racked up another goal to make it 7-0. Berglund became the 10th different Blue to score a goal.

Just as they did Thursday in the season opener, the Blues broke on top early.

After killing off three quick penalties, the Blues finally found themselves on the power play and took the lead on a goal by Morrow.

The veteran winger scored his first goal with the Blues and 250th of his career by lifting a backhander past Thomas on the rebound of a shot by Derek Roy.

Halak robbed former Blues winger Brad Boyes on a sprawling save early in the period, then Boyes hit the goalpost.

Halak got a little help from the goalpost midway through the third period with Scott Gomez hammering away, but stood his ground and kept the puck out.

After Florida was held without a shot during a power-play -- the Blues' eighth straight successful kill this season -- the Blues began their assault on Thomas.

Some nice work by Schwartz along the boards allowed him to snag the puck and he set up Tarasenko in front. That ended a 16-game goal drought for Tarasenko, who hadn't scored since March 28, 2013.

Vladimir Sobotka threw a seeing-eye pass from behind the net right onto the stick of Schwartz, who buried a shot from the slot for his first goal of the year.

Schwartz had a goal, two assists and a fight to record a "Gordie Howe hat trick." --hockey parlance for a player getting a goal, assist and into a fight on the same night.

Schwartz dropped the gloves with Florida's Kris Versteeg with 3:32 remaining.

"I wasn't really expecting it," said Schwartz, who said his last fight came when he was 17. "There was a tap, then he dropped (the gloves) and just started throwing them. It caught me a little bit off guard but I tried to recover."

Roy became the eighth different Blues scorer on the team's first eight goals this season when he was set up by Stewart from behind the net.

The Stewart-Roy-Morrow line combined for two goals and six points.

That made it 4-0, but there was still enough time left in the period for another Blues goal.

Steen was pulled down from behind by Florida's Erik Gudbranson on a partial breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot.

Steen used a slick backhand move to beat Thomas for his second goal of the season, pushing the lead to 5-0. It was the Blues' third straight successful penalty shot and seventh on their last eight tries dating back to the 2007-08 season.

Belleville News-Democrat LOADED: 10.06.2013

719837 St Louis Blues

Morrow proving to be welcome addition for Blues; Halak may stay busy

Published: October 5, 2013 Updated 5 hours ago

By NORM SANDERS — News-Democrat

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was impressed with veteran winger Brenden Morrow's debut on Thursday, most notably for a reverse shoulder check that Morrow dropped on Nashville's Mike Fisher.

Morrow made an impact again Saturday but this time it was on the scoreboard. He netted his first Blues goal on the rebound of a shot by Derek Roy at 14:58 of the first period, beating Florida goalie Tim Thomas and later added an assist on a goal by Roy.

"It always feels good to contribute that way," said Morrow, the former captain of the Dallas Stars. "I learned early on in my career not to judge my game on statistics, but it's rewarding and it feels good to be able to contribute goals and assists and making plays around the net."

The 34-year-old Morrow did not sign with the Blues until late September. Even though he was working out hard on his own, it's tough to replicate game conditions in the NHL.

"I would say he's probably 75 or 80 percent where he's going to be at, getting better every day," Hitchcock said. "The hands are catching up to the feet now; the feet were way ahead of the hands."

Morrow's hands looked just fine as he expertly lifted a backhander past Thomas to put the Blues in front.

"He's just a competitor," Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong said. "If you were in a foxhole, you'd like to have him beside you and not on the other side."

Hitchcock also liked what he saw Thursday from one of the Blues' youngest wingers, 20-year-old Vladimir Tarasenko. Hitchcock wants Tarasenko and fellow youngster Jaden Schwartz to work on getting more shots, but Tarasenko showed a little more physical side to his game against Nashville.

"He really was dominant on the cycle," Hitchcock said. "If you cycle the puck like that, you're going to end up with a lot of scoring chances and a lot of shooting opportunities."

Halak the workhorse?

With a relatively light schedule the first few weeks of the season, Blues fans could be seeing a lot of goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The Blues have at least two days off before each of their next three games and won't encounter their first back-to-back games until Oct. 19-20 (Chicago and Winnipeg).

"There's such a big break between games," Hitchcock said Saturday before Halak blanked Florida 7-0 for his record 17th shutout with the Blues. "We'll go with Jaro (Saturday) and see how it goes, but with all these big breaks between games, there's no reason one guy can't play to start the season."

Hitchcock said goaltender Brian Elliott will get his chance soon enough.

"I think you're looking probably on back-to-backs and three in four nights, we're probably going to certainly make the move then," Hitchcock said. "Brian's last two days were the best we've ever seen from him this year, so that's been great. (Halak) played very well in Game 1 and we just want to keep going with it."

Old days, good times

Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester literally grew up with the Florida Panthers.

He was the third overall pick in the 2002 draft and broke into the NHL as a 19-year-old with the Panthers that year under former Blues coach Mike Keenan.

Bouwmeester played for Florida from 2002 to 2009 but the Panthers never made the playoffs, not even during a 93-point season his final year there in 2008-09.

"Team-wise we really didn't have whole lot of success so that part of it was tough," said Bouwmeester, the top iron man in major professional sports after playing in his 637th straight game Saturday. "But personally, that's where I started and got an opportunity to play at a pretty young age."

Belleville News-Democrat LOADED: 10.06.2013

719838 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning recover, rally past Blackhawks

By Erik Erlendsson | Tribune Staff

Published: October 5, 2013

CHICAGO — Facing the two Stanley Cup finalists from last season in the first two games of this season figured to be quite a test for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After two games, Tampa Bay needs to do a bit more reviewing. But for one night, SparkNotes proved enough of a study guide for the Lightning to pass the exam.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks took the Lightning to school for two periods Saturday, before Tampa Bay rallied for a 3-2 shootout victory in front of an announced sellout crowd of 21,563 at the United Center.

Chicago dominated puck possession and it showed with a 39-15 shot advantage. The Blackhawks also held the Lightning without a shot on goal in the first period, the third time in franchise history Tampa Bay has been held without a shot in a period.

But Marty St. Louis and Teddy Purcell scored in the third period to key a Lightning comeback that was completed when Valtteri Filppula notched the only shootout goal.

Ben Bishop, who stopped 37 shots in regulation, denied Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa in the shootout to allow Tampa Bay to escape with a victory.

“Let’s call a spade a spade. There is a reason they are defending Stanley Cup champs and they showed us for most of the game why they are the best team in the league,’’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.