St. Louis Blues Stymied In Buffalo By Penalties and Goaltending

The St. Louis Blues winning streak came crashing to an end. The Buffalo Sabres took them down by a final score of 3-2.

The St. Louis Blues had a pretty good start against the Buffalo Sabres. Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues to give them a 1-0 lead before the full first five minutes were in the books.

It seemed like St. Louis would be able to go off to the races and extend their winning streak to seven. However, Robin Lehner had other ideas. Despite Alexander Steen ringing one off the crossbar midway through the second period, there were not many pucks that were going to get past the Buffalo netminder.

The Sabres were outshot quite a bit throughout the game. St. Louis was buzzing around the Buffalo net for much of the contest, but they just could not find that kill shot.

Lehner ended up stopping 37 of 39 shots. Despite not being named one of the stars of the game, Lehner was really the big difference.

St. Louis did not have the big time, quality chances you would like to see. They did have 59 shots toward goal, but many were either scramble plays or clean looks. Granted, anything can happen with scrambles but if you are in good position, it’s hard to get the puck elevated from so close.

So, Lehner was very sharp and the big difference. Still, it would have been nice to see the Blues do a little more.

St. Louis had three powerplay chances and did not muster much on any of them. That has been one of the few things that has not changed enough. The Blues still pass way too much looking for that perfect play, which makes defending them easier.

I get that the team does not want to take a shot and have the rebound just sent out of the zone. It’s hard to score when you don’t put chances on goal though or at least make the defenders tire themselves out.

On the flip side, the Blues were in the box far too much in key situations. They did not really take any more penalties than normal, but it was just when they occurred.

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Kevin Shattenkirk got called for two penalties. While they might have been pretty weak, it put the team in a hole.

St. Louis also gave up a five-on-three powerplay goal for the first time in forever. It’s fine to know you can rely on your penalty killing, but even if some of the calls were weak at best, the Blues gave the officials an opportunity to make a decision.

They say it in soccer and the same applies to hockey. You need to avoid situations where you give the official a decision to make. Have everything clear cut and there’s no room for error. The Blues gave the refs some leeway and they put the arms up.

Still, there were plenty of positives out of this game. Despite St. Louis trailing for the first time since they started this win streak, they did not give up.

The Blues got their first shorthanded goal of the season on a beautiful Scottie Upshall breakaway. Upshall looked like a top scorer the way he calmly pushed it in through the five hole.

Jake Allen continued to look good despite giving up another three goals. His detractors will whine and moan, but like the game against Vancouver, there was little chance for him to make saves on any of the shots.

The Blues can still be proud of the way they played, which was not always the case in their losses earlier in the season. These are the sorts of losses that, while frustrating, can be stomached by the fans.

Now the Blues turn their attention to the Florida Panthers. Florida is quite similar to the Blues. They are fighting for playoff position, have made a coaching change and are on the rebound.

Even though the Blues fell in Buffalo, if they continue with this sort of effort, they will be fine. No time to rest on their laurels though. They need to keep pushing forward.

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