St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Avalanche Of Scoring

Good morning Blues fans! The St. Louis Blues took advantage of the situation last night and made the most of it. They snapped their five-game losing streak and got back to scoring.

The St. Louis Blues came out of their shell last night against the Colorado Avalanche. There is no telling how long it will last, especially since this team is so up and down, but it was nice to see.

The Blues have struggled with scoring in recent times, which had been the main cause of their losing streak. Unlike in the past when it could be attributed more toward the defense or goaltending, the team’s lack of sniping ability kept them off the win column.

Coming into the game last night, St. Louis had only had six goals in their five losses. That puts a lot of pressure on the goaltender to essentially pitch a shutout every game if he can only get one goal a game for support.

As well as both Jake Allen and Carter Hutton have been playing, it just is not done in today’s NHL. Hutton’s back-to-back shutouts were rare enough, let alone asking both your netminders to do it every game or every other game.

Last night, the Blues put it all together. Their passes were crisp and on the money. Their goaltender was feeling it. The defending was good overall and the team was actually taking shots like they should.

The naysayers will say it was just against Colorado (one of the worst teams in the league). That fact cannot be disputed, but you have to start somewhere.

You can’t expect the Blues to just magically turn it back on if they’ve been struggling. Sometimes you need them to have a game to make them feel good about themselves.

Additionally, St. Louis is going to be playing Colorado and teams like that quite a bit. According to winning percentages, the Blues have the weakest remaining schedule of any playoff contender.

That sounds great, but the Blues have had a tougher time with the minnows than the big fish. So, the fact they have soundly defeated Colorado twice now bodes well.

Of course, beating the little guys won’t prepare the team for the rigors of the playoffs, but they need to get on a roll. I’d rather have a team that put together five or six wins in a row against the cellar dwellers than five losses where they kept it close against the top teams.

Winning and losing becomes a habit and you tend to repeat the things you did in either situation. So, regardless of who the opponent is right now, winning is important.

At this point in the season, it does not matter who the Blues are facing. If they can get the W, then that’s all that matters. Every point is precious and the Blues need a many as they can get.

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

Jake Allen posted a shutout, Kyle Brodziak ended his own goal scoring drought and Mike Yeo’s team took a little pressure off after he threw the gauntlet down. Hear their reactions in the postgame comments. (Blues)

The Blues, like many teams, probably kicked the tires on a potential deal that would have brought Matt Duchene in. However, according to many reports, the price tag is and will likely stay pretty high. Even with the team’s “depth” at center, it might not be a bad idea to explore the idea again in the summer if they can keep certain names out of the deal. (STLToday)

The Blues have long touted their fans as being some of the best. The people around the team are one of the reasons why so many ex-players stay in the area. So, it should come as no surprise that a couple fans took a detour on their way to the game to help out some people in a desperate situation. (Post-Dispatch)

Next: Are Blues Mishandling Their Top Prospects?

The St. Louis Blues have been rubbed the wrong way by more video replays than just about any team in the league. Part of that might change though as the GM’s are thinking about relaxing a certain part of the offside rule. (ESPN)

Similarities in stats are not the only thing that make Auston Matthews and Patrick Laine similar. Both took similar paths to the NHL and are going through similar paths once in the league. (NHL)

Have a great day Blues fans!