St. Louis Blues: Robby Fabbri Bookends Complete Team Win In New Jersey

The St. Louis Blues actually dominated a game start to finish. Their win was supplied, in no small part due to Robby Fabbri.

The St. Louis Blues road struggles so far this season have been well documented. Three road wins through 27 games was just not cutting it, especially for a team with championship aspirations.

In stepped Robby Fabbri. The young forward stepped up for the Blues and sparked them to a rather dominating victory over the New Jersey Devils in Newark.

The game ended a couple streaks. On the Blues side, it was their first road win since November 22 and only the fourth overall. On the Devils side, they were undefeated in regulation to start the year and the Blues never even let them into the game.

That’s what we need and should expect from the Blues. New Jersey can win at home and be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the East. The reality is they are not a great team.

They are much improved with the addition of Taylor Hall and a couple other pieces. They are still a team that will struggle to make the playoffs and have missed the last handful of years.

The Blues are a better team and left no doubt of that on this night.

St. Louis got things started and finished by Fabbri. The youngster seemed like he was going into a bit of a sophomore slump the way he started the season, but has responded.

Unlike Jori Lehtera, Fabbri has taken his benching to heart and come back with a vengeance. He has four goals and seven points over his last six games and looked like a force on both of his tallies against the Devils.

The first one was a well spotted wrister that was set up by Brad Hunt in his first game for the Blues since being called up from the Chicago Wolves.

Fabbri’s second was even better. He looked like a bull in a china shop as he just powered his way through the defenders and popped one in even off balance.

The positive thing for the Blues is that it was not a one man show. Even though Fabbri scored the first and last goals, the entire team came to play.

St. Louis has a habit of having everyone come with their A-game or everyone has an off game. On this night, it was everyone on their toes to get of the road schnide.

Everyone from the stars like Fabbri and Tarasenko, down to the little people from the fourth line had solid nights. Even Ryan Reaves, who has been an offensive dynamo in recent weeks finally got his first goal of the season.

If the Blues could just bottle up this game and carry it through to their next handful of road trips, we would all be much better off. They played like they do at home and just seemed at ease through the entire thing.

Granted, it helps to be facing a team that had just traveled home from Montreal while the Blues were only a bus ride away. Nevertheless, both teams were on the back side of back-to-backs, so there was not a huge advantage.

St. Louis may not have the same game come Sunday in Minnesota. For all we know, they might revert to their head scratching play where there is no one issue, except the final results.

If they can gain confidence from this one though, they’re in good shape. Now, they just need to hope they can keep Fabbri and Jaden Schwartz hot as well.

Random Thoughts

It’s way too early to think Brad Hunt might be anything but a good fill in player. Still, despite the fact he is 28 and only played around 20 NHL games, it is hard not to be impressed by his offensive skills. He is quick and moves the puck well. If the Blues really want to be a speed team, he might fit the bill in the future. Oh, and he’s leading the AHL in scoring.

Jake Allen continues to be one of the more underappreciated goaltenders. As with any Blues goalie, he has some vocal detractors, but he quietly went about shutting down the Devils. He wasn’t peppered, but they did have some quality chances and the Snake made some top saves just a night after getting beat three times (though none were his fault). Additionally his 8-1-1 record in the second of back-to-backs is quite ridiculous.

It was great to see Keith Kinkaid get the game for the Devils. Most people don’t care one way or the other, but he was a fantastic goaltender and a big reason his St. Louis Bandits team won the NAHL Championship. I had the privilege of calling some of his games while he was in town.

It’s funny how sports never work for us fans at times. We all want Vladimir Tarasenko to be a bit more selfish at times and that includes shooting more. Well, he tied his career high for shots on goal and didn’t come away with a goal. Go figure.

Looking Forward

It’s off to Minneapolis/St. Paul to face the Wild on Sunday. The Wild have jumped back up into one of the guaranteed three playoff spots in the division.

Their record has gone up and down all season despite having one of the best goal differences in the conference. St. Louis has two wins over Minnesota this year, but this will be the first one on the road.