TAMPA, Fla. _ The Blues had a chance for a very good road trip or a so-so journey depending on the outcome of Saturday's game at Tampa Bay. They ended up in the "so-so" category, falling to 4-2 on the season with a 2-1 loss to the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
After falling behind 2-0, the Blues made a late run at Tampa Bay, with a Vladimir Tarasenko goal at 16:37 and then a two-man advantage for the final 49.6 seconds with a high-sticking penalty against Tampa Bay coupled with the Blues pulling goalie Jake Allen.
Tampa had taken a 2-0 lead earlier in the third period on a goal by Nikita Kucherov.
But the Blues couldn't get the late equalizer, completing the first of what will be three four-game road trips with a 2-2 record away from the friendly ice of Scottrade Center. The Blues are back home for only the second time this season Wednesday against Chicago. The Blues started the second period like they finished the first _ sharp defensively and with a lot of offensive zone time as well. But Tampa started to take control of the flow of play a few minutes into the period and got on the board first.
Tampa was on the power play after the Blues were whistled for too many men on the ice _ the second time this season that's happened. Tampa passed the puck as if it were on a string with the man advantage _ the Blues didn't come close to getting the puck out of the zone.
Tyler Johnson finally made the Blues pay with a shot from the left faceoff circle that went under the left leg of goalie Jake Allen for a 1-0 Lightning lead at the 8:20 mark. The Blues were outshot 13-5 in the period.
The Blues entered the game allowing 37.2 shots per game, which is a lot. But there were much sounder defensively in the opening period at Amalie Arena, allowing only nine shots by the Lightning while getting 15 themselves in a scoreless 20 minutes.
Taraskenko just missed giving the Blues an early lead, hitting the crossbar just 40 seconds into the game. The period's only power play took place when Tampa Bay's Anton Stralman went off for interference at the 12:25 mark. Paul Stastny, who entered the game with at least one point in the Blues' first five games, had several whacks in front of Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to no avail.
Samuel Blais, making his NHL debut for the Blues, had two shots on goal in the first 20 minutes, one of which was a prime scoring chance that Vasilevskiy turned away.
