St.Louis Blues’ Alex Steen skates away after scoring the winning goal in overtime.UPI/Robert Cornforth
Not only did Blues forward Alex Steen score a power play goal to open the scoring in Tuesday night’s first round matchup with the Los Angeles Kings, but he also scored the game winner on a shorthanded goal, taking advantage of empty net by tapping the puck in for the game winner, a 2-1 final at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Steen deflected Kings goalie Jonathan Quick’s passing attempt from behind the net and put a backhanded wraparound into the net 13:26 into the overtime period for the Blues’ first win against Los Angeles in nine games. They were 0-7-1 dating back to last season.
This would have been a tough one for the Blues to swallow had they let this one get away. They dominated the Kings, outshooting L.A. 42-30 and were just about a half-minute from finishing off the shutout, when the Kings pulled Quick for an extra-attacker. Justin Williams snapped a shot over the shoulder of Brian Elliott with 31.6 seconds remaining to tie the game 1-1. It was Elliott’s only blemish as he continued his unbeaten streak through the month of April, finishing the month 12-0-2.
In the overtime, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was assessed a four-minute high sticking penalty, which gave the Kings a chance to steal the game, before Steen turned the tables. Quick, who kept his team in the game with 40 saves, didn’t have much to say afterwards.
“I tried to make a pass. Steen blocked it and scored. I don’t have an option to the left…trying to give my D-man a little more time with the puck. You give it to him early and then he Steen is up his [rear end]. You try to make him make a decision. And he got the stick on it.”
AUDIO Steen, David Backes and Ken Hitchcock discuss the game winner (1:09)
Watch the freaky game winner from NHL.com