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Sunday, Apr. 2 2:00pm ET
Turgeon finding form for Blues | |||||
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BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- After a 25-game layoff, Pierre Turgeon is gearing up for the playoffs. Turgeon, who returned to the lineup March 29 after missing six weeks with an injured thumb, had a goal and two assists Sunday in the St. Louis Blues 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
"I wouldn't be out there this close to the playoffs if my thumb wasn't healed," Turgeon said. The Blues, who hardly missed a beat without Turgeon, have a franchise-record 111 points for overall first place in the NHL. Turgeon said his goal was a good test of his thumb. "I tried to hold onto the puck as long as I could and I kept the puck on the ice until the last possible moment," Turgeon said. Turgeon's goal at 12:59 of the first period gave the Blues a 1-0 lead and Ottawa never caught up. The Blues have played four games in five days and coach Joel Quenneville said the heavy schedule was a good test for Turgeon. "With four games in a short amount of time, you'd think his toughest game would have been today, but he played his best game since he came back," Quenneville said. "He had a lot of jump and some spark in his skates. His line started out strong on their first shift and never did let down." The Blues didn't show any effects from their emotional scoreless tie with Detroit on Saturday. "We said we couldn't let up today," said Scott Young, who scored twice. "I think it's pretty impressive that we didn't and we looked pretty good for the schedule we've had." St. Louis has won 55 straight when they score at least three times. "You have to give the Blues credit," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "They have four lines that can each give at least 30 goals in a season. That's great depth. We made some mistakes today that St. Louis took full advantage of and that's what the good teams do." The Blues, who last won a division title in 1987, are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. The Senators, who have also clinched a playoff spot, have lost six of nine. St. Louis, which led 3-1 after two periods on goals by Turgeon, Young and Todd Reirden, beat Ottawa at home for the first time since 1993. Turgeon scored his 24th goal at 12:59 of the first period. Young made it 2-0 on a power-play goal at 3:17 of the second, scoring from just in front of the net after taking a pass from Turgeon. Ottawa cut it to 2-1 on Radek Bonk's 22nd goal at 9:47 of the second. Reirden skated in untouched from the blue line at 13:26 to beat Tom Barrasso with a backhander, restoring the two-goal lead. Young gave the Blues a 4-1 lead at 4:14 of the third when he scored his second of the game and 23rd of the season. Al MacInnis played in his 1,200th career game. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Ottawa Clubhouse St. Louis Clubhouse RECAPS Carolina 1 Philadelphia 0
St. Louis 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   Pierre Turgeon beats Tom Barrasso for the goal.avi: 701 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||
