Ivan Barbashev had a feeling it was going to be a good night, and he proved it on the ice.
Barbashev scored twice to help the St. Louis Blues snap a season-worst five-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
It was the third time in Barbashev’s career he has scored multiple goals in a game, and his first this season. Remarkably, two of those games have been against the Devils.
“It’s been a tough stretch, but tonight was a good game by everyone,” Barbashev said. “The last couple of games, we’ve been building, and tonight we finally got some goals from the offense. It’s been a while.”
Jaden Schwartz added a goal, and Jordan Binnington made 17 saves to earn his seventh career shutout and second of the season, as the defending Stanley Cup champions and Western Conference leaders won for the first time since February 4.
Louis Domingue made 36 saves for the Devils, who were shut out for the seventh time this season.
“We didn’t defend hard enough,” Devils center Kyle Palmieri said. “We weren’t ending plays, and they took advantage of that. Louie stood on his head for us, but we didn’t give him much support.”
The Blues dominated early, outshooting the Devils 13-6 in the first period, but Domingue made several big saves, including stops on David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo, to keep the game scoreless.
Domingue frustrated the Blues in the second period, making dynamic saves on Ryan O’Reilly and Carl Gunnarsson during a St. Louis power play. However, Barbashev broke through on the Blues’ 20th shot, finding a loose puck in the slot and scoring his first goal in 13 games at 9:21 of the second.
“We did a really good job with puck possession tonight,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “The guys did a great job of not turning it over and making smart plays. Puck support was excellent in all three zones. You feel like that’s been building for the last few days.”
Bennington was tested more in the third period, making key saves during a four-minute Devils power play, including one where Pavel Zacha hit the post. He also stopped Wayne Simmonds with just 4.8 seconds left in the second period.
Barbashev extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:27 of the third period, finishing off a perfect feed from Sammy Blais. Schwartz won with 5:15 left, scoring his fifth goal in 10 career games against the Devils.
“A win’s the priority, but we’ll take the shutout,” Binnington said. “It’s a good feeling for the team knowing that we really locked it down.”
Devils defenseman Will Butcher left the game in the first period after blocking a shot.
“He’ll be OK,” Devils coach Alain Nasreddine said. “Right now, I don’t really have an update, but I was told it’s nothing too serious. We’ll get a better evaluation tomorrow.”
Happy Homecoming:
Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who collapsed due to a cardiac episode during a game in Anaheim on February 11, met with his teammates during the morning skate. Bouwmeester had a cardioverter defibrillator implanted in his chest and had been hospitalized until returning to St. Louis on Sunday.
“I was really happy to see him,” Barbashev said. “We were joking around, and he’s in a good mood. Everybody was happy to see him.”
Game Notes:
The Blues traded a second-round pick in 2020 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2021 to Montreal in exchange for defenseman Marco Scandella. St. Louis also placed Bouwmeester on long-term injured reserve and assigned defenseman Niko Mikkola to San Antonio of the AHL. … The Devils haven’t beaten the Blues since January 21, 2014, and haven’t won at Enterprise Center since December 30, 2008. … Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko participated in his second morning skate since dislocating his left shoulder on October 24. He is still at least a month away from returning. … Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen missed his eighth game with a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT:
- New Jersey: Hosts San Jose on Thursday.
- St. Louis: Hosts Arizona on Thursday.
