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Boyes scores twice as Blues down Capitals

Oct 28, 2007 - 4:10 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- One of the major reasons for the surprisingly good start by the St. Louis Blues has been the play of Brad Boyes.

Boyes scored two goals and Manny Legace had another solid performance Saturday night as the Blues posted a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Defenseman Eric Brewer and David Backes also tallied for St. Louis, which already has won twice as many games (six) this October as it did in the first month of last season.

Boyes, once again, got the Blues off to a quick start. After intercepting an outlet pass, Keith Tkachuk sent a quick pass to Boyes, who broke through the defense for a breakaway.

Boyes lifted a wrist shot over the glove of goaltender Brent Johnson to give St. Louis a 1-0 edge just 45 seconds into the contest. It was the third time Boyes has scored in the first 90 seconds of a game this season.

"It's fun contributing," Boyes said. "I think everyone is putting the pieces together. That's obviously what it takes. We played pretty well. We got some timely goals. We need these points."

Boyes struck again with 79 ticks left in the second period to give the Blues a 3-2 lead. He took a drop pass from Ryan Johnson entering the zone and rocketed a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that went over the left shoulder of Brent Johnson.

The 25-year-old Boyes, who has three multi-goal games this season, has a team-leading eight tallies.

St. Louis added an insurance goal early in the final session. Lee Stempniak lost control of the puck, but it came to Christian Jackman in the high slot, and the defenseman blasted a shot past Brent Johnson to make it 4-2 just 71 seconds into the period.

It was all the offense Legace needed. The eight-year veteran has not surrendered more than three goals in a game this season.

Legace turned aside 23 of the 26 shots he faced en route to winning for the fifth time in his last six games.

"We played extremely well tonight," Legace said. "I think the last 5-on-3, I don't think they even had a shot on net. Good dedication tonight. Boyes came out big tonight."

Michael Nylander deflected Alex Ovechkin's wrist shot with just 72 seconds remaining in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. It marked the third straight multi-point performance by Ovechkin, who notched two assists in the contest.

The Blues extended their advantage to 2-0 at 8:58 of the first period, when Brewer led a 3-on-1 rush and snapped off a quick shot from the bottom of the left circle past Brent Johnson.

St. Louis' two-goal lead did not last long. Just 40 seconds later, blue-liner Mike Green halved the deficit.

On a man advantage, Ovechkin sent the puck to the point and defenseman John Erskine delivered a touch pass to Green, who fluttered a wrist shot through a screen and over the blocker of Legace.

Green added another tally at 3:47 of the second period for his first career multi-goal game. Green launched a slap shot from the right point that deflected off Legace's glove and into the net to tie the game at 2-2.

"I had to simplify my game here tonight," Green said. "I had to get back to what I do well. I needed to regroup and prepare for tonight, and that's what I did. I knew from the beginning it was preparation."

Green's two tallies in this contest equaled his total from the entire 2006-07 campaign.

Brent Johnson, who spent five seasons with the Blues from 1999-2003, made just 14 saves in losing his third straight start.

"We need to get a swagger in this dressing room and just a belief that we can beat every team in this league," Brent Johnson said.

"It's kind of been the way it's been going," Capitals coach Glen Hanlon added. "In comparisons, we're in every game. Playing a team like this that's 6-3, to give up 17 shots, we're pretty happy with those defensive things. But we're not scoring enough and (committing) costly errors."