Here are some observations from the game:
• The Blues built a 3-0 lead in the first period and made that score hold for the win. St. Louis potted three goals and 10 shots in that opening period. From there, St. Louis went into defensive lockdown mode and effectively used it to shutdown the Devils in the final 40 minutes.
“It’s tough against any team when you spot them a lead like that,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They’re parking the bus, clogging it up. Making it hard to get to their net. They’re not taking any chances on offense so the game doesn’t’ up for you. You have to find your way through that. Clearly, it was a struggle for us.”
"They shut it down. They stayed above. How do you find ways to break that?" Noesen said. "We talk about how to do it, but we didn't go out and do it."
• The Devils tilted the ice in their favor at the start of the second period. New Jersey outshot the Blues by an 11-1 count in the middle frame. In fact, the Blues only registered one shot in a 30:46-minute span stretching the entire second period and 10:46 minutes into the third period.
• Devils defenseman Luke Hughes played in his 100th career NHL game.
• It was an ugly start for the Devils, though they have some gripes with some of the circumstances. Thomas opened the game’s scoring with a goal on the opening shot just nine seconds into the game. However, on the play it appeared that Pavel Buchnevich tripped Devils captain Nico Hischier on the play to create the 2-on-1 that led to the goal.
“My opinion was there was a miscall there,” Keefe said. “That’s the way it goes. It didn’t go our way. You can still stop the 2-on-1. You can still make a save. You can still play the game, score the next goal. All these things. There was lots of time left. It was indicative of our night.”
St. Louis added to the lead with Holloway scoring at 6:23 on the power play. But, again, it appeared that Brayden Schenn cross checked New Jersey’s Brett Pesce in the back, knocking him down at the crease and creating space for Holloway’s shot.
• New Jersey didn’t register its first shot of the game until the 12:07 mark of the first period. By then St. Louis had a 2-0 lead and 8-1 edge in shots.
• The Devils played the game without forward Timo Meier, who was serving a one-game suspension for a major cross checking penalty in the previous game against Nashville.
• Prior to the game, the Devils held a pre-game ceremony honoring Jacob Markstrom for recently reaching the 500-game mark of his NHL career. He was given a silver stick, a couple plaques, a bottle of wine, a watch and even a mini silver stick for his son, Clark.
"It's not often you get to share the ice with family. it's special for sure," Markstrom said. "I obviously wanted a different outcome and different start of the game. This is a day you look back and don't remember the game but remember before the game."
