Source: ESPN-NHL...
Message from Grant Fuhr:
Source: ESPN-NHL...
Blues goalie Grant Fuhr turns aside one of 27 shots he faced. The St. Louis Blues goalie stopped 27 shots Thursday night to lead the Blues to a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The shutout was the 25th for Fuhr, who is in his 18th NHL season.
"It's nice," Fuhr said. "There are still a couple of other milestones I want to reach. I think I need six more wins to get to 400 and I want to get there. Depending on how the body feels, I may get to 1,000 games. So there's still a couple things down the road I want to get."
What he wanted most on Thursday was a victory, and he got it for the Blues, who were outshot 27-24.
"It was nice to see Grant play well and get the shutout and get us the win," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "This was one of those games where you look over the season you hope your goaltender can steal you a game. Tonight, he got it for us."
That was pretty much the way the Lightning viewed things.
"The difference in the game was Grant Fuhr," Tampa Bay's Jassen Cullimore said.
Scott Pellerin also contributed, as he scored twice. Pellerin has a career-high 19 goals. His previous best was 10 with New Jersey in 1992-93. Jamal Mayers had a goal and an assist for St. Louis and Chris Pronger added two assists.
St. Louis has won seven straight over the Lightning at home. Tampa Bay, which lost in Dallas 6-4 on Wednesday, is 1-11-2 in the second game when playing on consecutive days and has been shut out four times in its last nine games.
The Lightning are also 0-29-2 when trailing after one period, and that's the position they were in after Pellerin scored short-handed 5:31 into the contest to make it 1-0.
"Any time you get behind the eight-ball in St. Louis it becomes a tough place to play," Lightning goalie Kevin Hodson said.
With Mike Eastwood off for obstruction-holding, Blair Atcheynum broke out on a 2-on-1 with Pellerin. Atcheynum passed to Pellerin, who put it in the open net past Hodson. Pellerin has five short-handed goals, tying him with Colorado's Joe Sakic for the league lead.
"Who's the odd man out in that picture there?" Pellerin said with a laugh.
The Blues got some insurance at 8:54 of the second period when Pellerin deflected home a shot by Mayers while he was jostling with Lightning defenseman Sergey Gusev in front of the net.
"It's funny," Pellerin said. "You're just trying to play well and play consistent. I've been fortunate enough to play on some good lines with some good people who have gotten me the puck."
Mayers scored his third goal from in front at 16:24 of the third period.
Hodson, acquired from the Detroit March 22 in exchange for Wendel Clark and a sixth-round draft pick, made 21 saves.
Source: ESPN-NHL...
Fuhr missed 16 games after undergoing a second operation on his right knee
in a year in February, and his absence created chaos in the nets. The Blues
auditioned four possible replacements, including former Vezina Trophy winner
Jim Carey.
That's all forgotten now that Fuhr is back. He's
played in three of the past four games, including
a 26-save performance Tuesday night in a 5-2
victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. After
Thursday night's 2-2 tie with Phoenix, Fuhr is
2-0-1 since coming back from his knee injury.
"Each night it's getting better," Fuhr said Wednesday. "I'm happy with the way it's going." The Blues played on consecutive days last weekend and Fuhr sat out a 5-2 victory at Chicago because of knee soreness. The rest of the season there are only two more back-to-back situations. "The first game back, we didn't want to press the issue," coach Joel Quenneville said. "But looking the way he is, he's probably going to see a lot of action between now and the end of the year." That's good news for Fuhr, who has played in 25 games thus far. "If they want me to, yeah," Fuhr said. "It'll be fine."
Fuhr split duties with Jamie McLennan earlier in the season, but made seven
straight starts during one stretch. He had the surgery after realizing he was
hurting the team, but it hurt them anyway as McLennan, Rich Parent, Brent
Johnson and Carey all took turns in goal.
Parent and Johnson each played well for a while but both are back in the
minors. Carey won his first NHL game since 1997 Saturday at Chicago, but
has been shaky and was a healthy scratch Tuesday. McLennan was the
backup Tuesday, but he also has fallen out of favor, with his last start Feb. 24.
Teammates are happy to have Fuhr, part of five Stanley Cup winners with the Edmonton Oilers during the 1980s and a six-time All-Star, back in the nets. "I don't know if relief is the right word, but there's a sense of stability back there," defenseman Al MacInnis said. "There's a ripple effect with the defensemen when you know a guy can make a big save, you play with much more confidence."
MacInnis said the Blues can use the experience of Fuhr, who has played in 831 career games, down the stretch as they try to secure a playoff berth. St. Louis is 29-28-11 for sixth place in the Western Conference. "He's as competitive and as fiery as anyone I've ever played with or against," MacInnis said. "When he was with Edmonton, it was always the Gretzkys and the Messiers and the Coffeys, but this guy had as much to do with winning all those cups as anybody on that team."
Source: ESPN-NHL...
Fuhr made the surprise announcement Wednesday after Blues coach Joel Quenneville said that Jamie McLennan would make his third straight start in goal Thursday night against Chicago. McLennan went on to stop 13 shots as St. Louis won 4-2.
"No, they didn't tell me Jamie was playing," Fuhr said. "I only work here. As long as we're winning, that's all that matters. Jamie's been playing well, so it doesn't surprise me.
"Besides, they need me to get somebody ready. They're going to have to replace me after next season, anyway. One more year after this one, and that's it."
The news caught general manager Larry Pleau off guard.
"What can I say?" Pleau said. "It's the first time I've ever heard of it. Geez, Grant. ... He rebounds from injury so well. I haven't even thought about that. He's been playing well this year.
"In my talks with Grant and his agent last year, when we did his new contract, nobody indicated anything to me like that."
Quenneville also was surprised.
"It's news to me," Quenneville said. "I guess at this stage of his career, he knows best."
Fuhr, 36, signed with St. Louis as a free agent in July 1995, and agreed to a two-year deal last spring for $3 million a season.
He played on five Stanley Cup championship teams with Edmonton, and also has spent time with Toronto, Buffalo and Los Angeles. He is 6-3-5 with a 2.67 goals-against average in 17 games this season.
The 1988 Vezina Trophy winner is 388-274-109 with 24 shutouts and a 3.38 GAA in 823 regular-season games, and 86-44 with five shutouts and a 2.98 GAA in 137 playoff games.
