Sports News 247

Logan Brown’s late goal gives Blues a 5-4 win

0


WICHITA, Kan. — Blues hockey is back, in south-central Kansas of all places.

With a very young team on the ice, the Blues defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-4 on Saturday at INTRUST Arena.

Thirteen of the 20 Blues players at their preseason opener either were in the minors or junior hockey at the end of last season. But with eight exhibition games this year, which is more than usual, Saturday night was a time to look at the prospects and those veterans trying to squeeze onto a roster that’s pretty well set entering camp.

Two players that appear to be competing for third-line spots up front, Jake Neighbours and Logan Brown, scored two goals apiece, with Brown scoring the game-winner with 4:10 to go in the game.

Look who’s back

For the first time since Nazem Kadri slammed into Jordan Binnington in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals last May, leading to a series-ending knee injury, the Blues goalie was back in game action. Binnington got the start Saturday, much to the delight of the crowd at INTRUST.

People are also reading…

He played only the first period, stopping seven of eight Coyotes shots. Arizona’s goal came on the power play, with Blues prospect Landon Sim off for hooking. Nick Ritchie scored backdoor for the Coyotes on an assist from Barrett Hayton with 4:51 left in the period.

Joel Hofer took over in the second period and finished off the game; he’s expected to be the No. 1 goalie this season for the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League.

Getting the start for Arizona in goal was a (somewhat) familiar name for Blues fans — Jon Gillies. With Binnington sidelined with COVID and Ville Husso out with an injury, Gillies started a Dec. 12 game against Anaheim last season. The Blues lost 3-2 in overtime, but Gillies at least earned the Blues a point.

Three days later, Binnington returned from the COVID list, and Gillies was traded to New Jersey for “future considerations.” He’s now with Arizona on a two-way contract.

Fastest shot in Wichita (or anywhere)

The Blues signed forward Martin Frk on July 15 to add some organizational depth, and compete for a spot on the “big club.” A native of the Czech Republic, Frk was a second-round draft pick by Detroit in 2012, who has never really caught on in the NHL.

He’s played in 124 games with Carolina, Detroit and Los Angeles over the years, with a career-high 11 goals for the Red Wings in 2017-18. But all told, he has only 20 career NHL goals. After scoring 40 goals last season for the Ontario Reign in the AHL, the Blues figured they’d give him a shot.

And it’s some shot — by Frk, that is. At the AHL All-Star Classic in 2020, Frk won the hardest shot contest with a slapshot clocked at 109.2 miles per hour — the fastest ever recorded in hockey.

Frk launched a couple of rockets in the second period Saturday — leading to some oohs and ahs from the crowd at INTRUST.

The first of the two was tipped in by Neighbours on the power play early in the period. The Blues signed Frk to a two-way contract, but he gets $500,000 if he ends up in the minors — which is a ton for an AHL player.

Big doings in Wichita

Wichita pulled out all the stops — or at least most of them — for what was not only the first NHL game in Wichita, but the first in the state of Kansas. Ever.

And it was a festive atmosphere. A good crowd, with fans wearing NHL jerseys from the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins. … And of course, all kinds of Blues jerseys.

Arizona, unable to play any preseason home games while their new building in Tempe is under construction, technically was the home team Saturday. But this was in name only. As former “The Voice” finalist Chris Mann completed the national anthem, it was the “land of the free and the home of the Bluuues!”

When the starting lineups were introduced pregame, the loudest cheers were heard — of course — when Binnington was announced as the starting goalie.

And it didn’t take too long in the opening period before the first chants of “Let’s go Blues!” were heard.

The boards along ice level were filled with ads purchased just for this game. The ads for the two Zambonis also were purchased just for Saturday’s game.

Things we noticed

The pace was fast, too fast for some players — Blues and Coyotes alike — who over-skate the puck or made hasty passes.

Blues prospect Keean Washkurak is small but speedy and feisty.

Zachary Bolduc, he of the 63 goals last year in juniors, was pretty quiet for the first two periods but perked up in the third.



Source link

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.