Jimmy Snuggerud's NHL debut: A shift-by-shift look from the OT win

New York Times

02-04-2025

ST. LOUIS — Not only was Jimmy Snuggerud playing his first NHL game Tuesday night with the St. Louis Blues, it was the first time he had ever been to Enterprise Center. The handful of times he'd been to town for a prospect camp, the practices have been held at Centene Community Ice Center.
'Yeah, I was trying to find the film room a couple of times,' Snuggerud said.
Advertisement
Wow, did he get a good first impression.
The Blues were within a minute of watching their nine-game winning streak come to an end against the Detroit Red Wings. But with 29 seconds left in regulation, Jordan Kyrou tied the score, 1-1, and then Cam Fowler won the thriller in overtime 2-1.
The sellout crowd of 18,096 at Enterprise Center celebrated the Blues' 10th straight win, which put them in the No. 1 wild card in the Western Conference with 89 points.
'The rink was so energetic,' Snuggerud said. 'When we scored that game-tying goal, it was so loud in here and then the overtime winner was twice as loud. It's really fun to be here and see that.
'Everything about the game — the comeback at the end — it was an awesome game. We snuck one out there at there at the end, and it was fun to be a part of.'
Likewise, the Blues got a good impression of Snuggerud.
The 20-year-old right winger logged 10:43 of ice time in his debut and had just two shots on goal, but he made several subtle plays all over the ice that impressed Blues coach Jim Montgomery and his new teammates.
'I thought he was really good,' Montgomery said. 'I thought he made smart plays. I didn't think he overcomplicated the game and he made plays on first-touch. That's a real good sign of a hockey player with really good hockey sense. I thought he acquitted himself well in his first game in the NHL and I was very confident putting him over the boards.'
A moment he'll never forget!
Jimmy Snuggerud is making his NHL debut with the @StLouisBlues! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/ZwP4dEl9Qm
— NHL (@NHL) April 1, 2025
Just five days ago, Snuggerud was playing with the University of Minnesota in an NCAA regional game. But after falling 5-4 in overtime to the University of Massachusetts, he joined the Blues for his first practice Tuesday and was in uniform a day later.
'I think he did a really nice job,' Fowler said. 'Coming in at this point in the season, fresh out of college, that's not an easy thing for anybody to do. But he stepped in, and you could see his poise with the puck and how strong he was in the corners. He'll only get more comfortable, and I think you'll see a lot more out of him.'
Snuggerud eventually found the Blues' film room. While The Athletic didn't have access to that, we did break down each of his 15 shifts Tuesday, and got some feedback from him on a few of the sequences.
1st shift: (18:40-18:27)
The crowd cheered as Snuggerud took the ice for his first shift.
'I heard something, but I didn't know it was before,' he said. 'It was cool.'
It was an offense-zone draw, and after the Red Wings cleared the zone, there was a whistle. So Snuggerud's first time over the boards lasted all of 13 seconds.
2nd shift: (15:49-14:55)
His next time out, the Blues were on the power play. They have him playing in the 'bumper' position, which is in the middle of the ice in the slot. You'll see as the puck is rotated around the perimeter, Snuggerud moves side to side, trying to be an option for a quick pass and shot.
3rd shift: (14:16-13:35)
Snuggerud gets knocked over by former Blues player Vladimir Tarasenko on the boards, but he gets back on his skates and helps break up a play in front of the Blues' net.
'I kind of got buried by Tarasenko in the first on the boards,' Snuggerud said. 'I was like, 'All right, I've got to get into it.''
4th shift: (10:04-9:37)
Snuggerud is going to be a shooter in the NHL, and on his fourth shift of the game, he attempted his first shot in the league. He sets himself upby gathering a loose puck in the neutral zone, pushing it ahead to Oskar Sundqvist and then skating into Sundqvist's return pass before taking aim on goalie Cam Talbot.
'You don't get as many chances as I did in college, but it was nice to get a shot off and it was a good save,' Snuggerud said.
5th shift: (8:49-8:05)
Snuggerud showed some speed, skating the puck through the neutral zone, and some tenacity getting through Detroit's defense to try and put some pressure on the puck below the goal line.
'You simulate what you think it's going to be, and then you actually get out there and it's a whole different level of hockey,' Snuggerud said. 'It's fun to get that first game in and see the pace.'
6th shift: (5:28-4:21)
Back on the power play, Snuggerud nearly finds himself with a wide-open shot, but captain Brayden Schenn's pass is picked up. Snuggerud subsequently picks off the Red Wings' clearing attempt, but can't do much with the puck because the Blues would've been offside.
7th shift: (12:52-12:13)
The Red Wings had the puck at the point and Snuggerud went down in an attempt to block a shot. Then, when the puck came around the wall, his quick stick allowed the Blues to clear the zone.
8th shift: (9:09-8:40)
The Blues' Zack Bolduc made a pass to keep the puck low in the zone. Snuggerud was able to win a forecheck battle with the Red Wings defenseman and get the puck back out to the point.
'The defenseman are so skilled, and they make small, little plays,' Snuggerud said. 'You're just trying to get your stick on the puck and catch a piece of the body. You've got to work really hard to get on it.'
9th shift: (6:45-5:55)
Snuggerud found a loose puck in the neutral zone and sent a cross-ice feed to Sundqvist. That allows Sundqvist to throw a puck toward the net, which Bolduc deflects wide, but it was a scoring chance created by Snuggerud.
'These players are so good, they're always in the right position,' he said. 'You see a peak of them, and if you can get the puck to them, they're going to be there and they're going to catch the puck.'
10th shift: (3:08-2:32)
There wasn't much opportunity for Snuggerud on this shift, but twice he tries to provide puck support — first for Philip Broberg and then for Sundqvist — by staying close by and presenting his stick for a pass.
11th shift: (18:20-17:18)
Snuggerud was active along the boards on this shift, but he lost the puck, and that created a scoring chance for the Red Wings at the other end.
12th shift: (15:10-14:47)
Detroit got the first goal of the game from J.T. Compher, and while Snuggerud wasn't necessarily at fault, he felt he could have done more.
'I feel I should've backchecked to the house,' he said. 'It was kind of a broken play, broken puck, but I still should've had that guy backdoor. I was at the point and I was racing back, but I should've recognized it earlier.'
13th shift: (12:04-11:27)
Snuggerud showed some speed getting around Detroit's defense and then hit Jake Neighbours with a pass at the front of the net. While they didn't score, it was a good chance.
'I felt like I had a step on the D,' Snuggerud said. 'Neighbours was backdoor for me, and I tried to get it over there for him.'
14th shift: (6:29-5:31)
Snuggerud did a nice job of slowing up the forecheck and letting Fowler hit Compher. That allowed Snuggerud to stay aggressive in the other corner and pressure the puck until the Red Wings were able to exit.
15th shift: (2:02-:59)
On his last shift of the game, Snuggerud tried to be a screen on a point shot. While it didn't work, it showed a lot of trust by Montgomery by having a player making his NHL debut on the ice in a 6-on-5 situation in a critical game for the team.
'You want to be in those situations as a player,' Snuggerud said. 'It's a hard league to play in, and to get a chance like that, it was really cool to be a part.'
Snuggerud did not play in overtime, but Montgomery said he nearly used him.
'I think if we were going to make another change, it was going to be Neighbours and Snuggerud going over (the boards),' Montgomery said. '(Snuggerud) was making things happen. He drove that puck wide, and he went back post, and we just missed the tap-in. That's not the only clever play he made, and I thought he was responsible defensively.'
It was a solid night for Snuggerud, and there will be plenty more.
'The first game was really fun,' he said. 'It was a nervous game, but it was fun to play with so many good players.'
(Photo of Jimmy Snuggerud battling Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson: Jeff Le – Imagn Images)