St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Golden Opportunity Missed

Good morning Blues fans! Well, the Blues will continue playing. Unfortunately, it will be against the same opponent in future games instead of a new one.

The St. Louis Blues failed to seize on a golden opportunity. Instead of coming out like it was a do-or-die game, the Blues seemed to play as though they knew they had a giant cushion and the outcome reflected that.

St. Louis had the chance to send the Minnesota Wild packing and in search of tee times. Now the Blues must make flight plans back to St. Paul instead of game planning for the Nashville Predators or Chicago Blackhawks.

The disappointing part of everything, beyond just a simple loss, is the lack of enthusiasm for this chance. The Blues failed to even show up for the first period and then tried to get into the game after that.

The opening goal of the game came late in the opening frame and the Blues never got past that. Despite their awful first, the Blues had a chance to go scoreless into the break but it only took one mental lapse.

Jake Allen got bumped behind the net and the homer in all of us wanted a call. No penalty was handed out or officials help was given in terms of a goalie interference call.

In reality it should not have been called, it just stinks to think it might have been called against the Blues. Unfortunately for the Blues, that little distraction was enough to keep Allen from getting around and the Wild scored on the turnover.

The Blues began to find their legs following that period, but we never got a good enough effort to really give anyone too much hope. St. Louis just could not get the quality shots they needed.

Defensively, the team just could not help out Allen. The Snake bailed the team out so many times, but he could not be the savior on this night since he was the only one on the ice at times – figuratively of course.

Statistically, the Blues outshot the Wild in every period other than the first. However, though Devyn Dubnyk played well, it never felt like he was forced into any game changing saves.

There was just too many one and dones. When there were rebounds, the Blues were nowhere near where the puck was deflected to.

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Give credit to Minnesota though. They were physical enough, offensive enough and defensive enough to throw the Blues out of their comfort zone. They deserved to win, even if the words catch in your throat like sour milk.

The Blues did not deserve to win and it finally caught up with them. With the exception of Game 3, St. Louis really should not have won any of the games. They did win though and thank goodness for it since it has given them a big landing pad to fall on.

Beyond just the disappointment of one game is the creeping fear that sets in for fans. We have been burnt so many times in the past that we no longer know what might happen.

Statistically speaking, the Blues are still in the driver seat. It is very hard to win four games in a row in the playoffs and Minnesota must do that to eliminate the Blues.

On top of that, if you told any Blues fan that the team would be up 3-1 after four games, they’d take it in a heartbeat. It’s just how things went down that is worrying.

If I knew the team would be 3-1 after four, I’d want them to have lost Game 3 and won Game 4. Now Minnesota gets to go home knowing they can get a puck or two past Allen, even if Allen was not to blame for any of the scores.

As fans, we begin to cringe at the thought of another game in St. Louis. Any more chances in Scottrade Center mean the Blues return with only a 3-2 series edge.

That’s nothing I want to experience. The Blues had so much trouble closing out series last year that it likely cost them a chance at playing in the finals.

We all knew that sweeping was a slim possibility, but kept hoping the team would show they knew how to stick the knife in. For now, all we can do is hope St. Louis learned their lesson and come out with some fire on the road.

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

Mike Yeo was not giving up by any means, but you could tell he was disappointed in how his team performed. His biggest takeaway from the game seemed to be the fact his squad let their opponent dictate the pace. (Blues)

Players should never have fans first and foremost in their minds. Even so it was a disappointing night given the fact it was the largest crowd of the year, the arena was rocking and then forced to fall silent due to lackadaisical play. (STLToday)

As fans, we all want Vladimir Tarasenko to be a superhero and come up with the goals out of nowehere that save the Blues bacon. The fact is he is human and unable to live up to those lofty expectations because the expectations are unrealistic. That does not necessarily mean he is actually underperforming. (St. Louis Game Time)

A pair of goals and a change in team intensity put the Washington Capitals back in their series. That one seems poised to go for a long time. (ESPN)

The Buffalo Sabres season might be over, but their troubles are just beginning. Despite comments to the contrary, there is a bit of smoke regarding the team’s best player and a rift with the man behind the bench. That’s something Blues fans have seen in the past and it rarely ends well. (NHL)

Have a great day Blues fans!

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