St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Snake Bitten

Good morning Blues fans! Last night is hard to decipher what we saw. It was not a complete return to poor form, but the result was just as bad.

The St. Louis Blues continue to be a confounding team. They had a chance to accomplish so much against the Pittsburgh Penguins and failed to do so.

The Blues continue to have a terrible record against teams on the second leg of a back-to-back. That is when you should be dominating games, but not so for St. Louis.

The Blues had an opportunity to string together some wins, prove that their win over Toronto was not just due to emotion and right the ship somewhat. None of it was accomplished.

St. Louis still has no clue how to put together consistent efforts. The only thing in question now is whether the Pittsburgh result was just a blip or a return to poor form.

The result was the same, but last night’s game did not feel like the old losses. The Blues did not really play that poorly. Pittsburgh was just able to capitalize on every single mistake when given the chance.

Additionally, the Blues just seem snake bitten at the moment. Just when you think something positive can happen, it all goes south.

Jake Allen has finally turned it around. He’s playing with confidence and has solid positioning, however his defense gave him no help at all and neither did the offense.

One goal is not going to help most nights and there was no way Allen was making a save on two of the three goals he allowed. I think the Snake might have gotten over the mental hurdle, but he could revert if the team cannot help him out more.

Then there is the injury issue. The Blues already had problems on the blue line with recent injuries to guys like Robert Bortuzzo and Carl Gunnarsson. Now they might be shorthanded up front.

Robby Fabbri left the game against the Penguins with a leg injury. As soon as it happened, the Blues trainer lept onto the ice with Fabbri yelling in pain.

There has not been any word on potential time he could be out, but most of us are fearing the worst. Sadly, there is not much reason to hope for the best with those kinds of indicators.

If St. Louis has lost that kind of player, even if they bring up one of their hot AHL kids, there is going to be a drop off in production. That’s not a good thing at all given the team’s struggles to score in the first place.

Last, but definitely not least, is the question of the coaching. Mike Yeo did not do anything wrong against Pittsburgh, but given this team’s odd mental state, you wonder if the new coach effect wore off already.

Yeo’s press conference was not as dire as some of Ken Hitchcock’s, but the sentiments were the same. The Blues need to stick to the gameplan, they need to sacrifice for a full 60 minutes etc.

For now, we have to assume these are just the Blues we are going to get. They look like world beaters and then cellar dwellers.

Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your Super Sunday started off right.

Mike Yeo seemed genuinely appreciative to be able to learn under a future Hall of Fame coach in Ken Hitchcock. That doesn’t mean he can’t learn from other coaches. Since his former Pittsburgh boss went through a similar situation in taking over a team, he has leaned on Dan Bylsma for some advice. (STLToday)

Yeo admitted it has been an emotional week for the Blues given all that has gone on. He was very workmanlike in his approach though almost realizing that the new coach effect might have worn out already with this group. (Post-Dispatch)

The interest in Kevin Shattenkirk seems to ebb and flow more than the tides of the oceans. The latest rumor has a new team from out east showing some interest. The bad part is there is no discussion of what might be given up to gain the offensive D-man. (NJ.com)

Next: Yeo Might Have Recipe For Success

Speaking of trades, the Nashville Predators are taking almost a European soccer style approach to picking up guys. They continue to add depth players that may have no impact in the long term. (NHL)

The NHL seems to be taking the dumb NFL approach to broadening its market. While the league is almost turning its back on the Olympics, they have plans to play regular season games in two wildly different countries. (ESPN)

Have a great day Blues fans!