James Neal making good use of his PTO in St. Louis
James Neal was left unsigned all summer after the Edmonton Oilers bought out the remaining two years of his contract in late July. Just over a week ago, Neal signed a professional tryout contract with the St. Louis Blues.
On Saturday, Neal and the Blues took on the Minnesota Wild in St. Louis. It was an opportunity for him to make an immediate impact, and he took advantage of it, scoring a hat trick as St. Louis went on to win 6-2.
His first goal came just over two minutes into the second period to give the Blues a 2-0 lead.
This James Neal is the real deal. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/0tB0yRXyHm— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) September 26, 2021
He then potted his second of the game early in the third period to make it 4-2 St. Louis. The goal came 18 seconds after Blues forward Ivan Barbashev broke the 2-2 deadlock.
Just 18 seconds after Ivan Barbashev regained the lead, James Neal went and did this. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/1ScBASWq6N— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) September 26, 2021
Neal's final goal of the game was an empty netter with under a minute remaining in the third period to extend St. Louis' lead to three goals.
Neal and the Blues will be back in action on Monday night when they battle the Dallas Stars.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||