The New Year ushered in an exciting first for St. Louis Blues fans with the city playing host to its first outdoor game – and a little rain didn’t stop Vladimir Tarasenko from making sure the home crowd at Busch Stadium went home happy.
Tarasenko earned NHLPA.com (Outdoor Edition) Player of the Week honours, following the 2017 Winter Classic, which pitted the Blues against their rival Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
In a 1-1 third period tie, Tarasenko stepped up to the plate to score two goals, a mere 1:53 apart, to help the Blues to a 4-1 win.
His go-ahead goal was aided by a deflection past Corey Crawford and into the net, but Tarasenko’s second goal, was a thing of pure beauty – a pass he corralled off his skates before cleanly beating Crawford’s glove with a perfectly placed shot.
To cap it all off, the new father got some pretty cute photos for the family album, and snapped a selfie for the ages with some lucky field-level fans.
For a complete listing of the 2016-17 NHLPA.com Players of the Week, click here.
