St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 19 Vs. Arizona

The St. Louis Blues built up quite the win streak while they were on the road. Facing Arizona, it was an attempt to keep that streak going at home.

The St. Louis Blues carried a seven-game win streak into their Tuesday night matchup with the Arizona Coyotes. Most of those wins were gained on the road, so the Blues felt it important to keep the momentum going with some home cooking.

St. Louis actually got off to a rare good start. That is not to say the Blues always start poorly, but this was the first game in quite some time that the Blues got the first shot on goal and it did not take five minutes to get that shot either. These are small matters, but still a good habit to break.

The Blues did not dominate the opening period the way we had hoped. The Coyotes had played the night before in Washington and went all the way to a shootout. In a perfect world, the Blues would use their rest to take quick care of a tired team. However, as the Blues have proven, sometimes teams actually play better in the second of a back-to-back.

Nevertheless, the Blues managed to get on the board first. It was a couple solid shifts by the first line that eventually paid off with a tap-in goal at the top of the crease for a 1-0 lead.

On the negative side, this was another game the Blues could not put things away. They gave up the lead twice.

One could argue that the Coyotes were the better team overall, despite not creating as many chances as the Blues. That is a valid point, but the problem was the Blues still let this one slip away.

Too many costly errors and mental mistakes finally bit the Blues in the backside. They continue to be awful in shootouts and fall to the Coyotes 3-2 in the shootout. The Blues now only have one win in their last six games against Arizona.

Pros: Strong start for the top line

The Blues have gotten decent performances here or there from guys like Robert Thomas and Jaden Schwartz, but Brayden Schenn had been carrying the top line’s production for the most part. Lately, however, despite the team wins, it just felt like the top line had not really been doing much.

Some of that can be attributed to Thomas still trying to fit in. Some of it is due to a slow start for Schwartz. Both of those guys seemed to finally click with their center in this game.

The Blues top line had a handful of good shifts leading up to their goal. We actually saw Thomas take a shot on a two-on-one break, which is something many fans have been begging for. He needs to realize that trying to score and looking for a rebound can be just as effective, if not more so, than attempting a difficult cross-ice pass. Thomas was doing that in this game.

Then, you have the goal itself. It was not the prettiest of goals for Schwartz, but it was just the kind of goal he needed.

As Darren Pang pointed out, instead of flying by the net, Schwartz camped out in front and waited for a rebound. The puck came right to him after a good pad save and Schwartz just swatted it into a gaping net.

That gives him four goals for the season and three in the last four games. Special teams goals are fine, but it was good to see so many positive things coming from the top trio for St. Louis.

Cons: Coyotes first goal

On the actual shot, there was very little Jordan Binnington could do to stop this goal. It was just a heck of a shot from the top of the slot.

The problem was everything that led up to it. It was a goal that did not need to happen and there were at least a couple things that could have prevented it.

First was the non-call on the icing. Arizona clearly sent the puck in from their side of the red line and it went the entirety of the rink.

Vince Dunn did let up on his skating a little, but we have seen identical plays called as icing when the Blues clearly had a step on the defender. For whatever reason, the linesman waived it off and the Coyotes kept the pressure on.

After the missed icing, the Blues still ended up getting possession of the puck. However, for a reason only known to him, David Perron ripped a backhand pass from the wing right through the slot. It was a good two or three feet away from the nearest Blues player, right to Clayton Keller who made no mistake.

It is one thing if the opponent scores of their own talent. However, when that many preventable things happen to lead to that goal, it makes it sting more.

Cons: East-west passes

For most of the early 2019-20 season, the Blues have been good with their choices of passes. You’ll have your odd bad pass in every game, but this game was something different.

More from Bleedin' Blue

From the very start, the Blues were trying to force things across the rink. They continually tried to hit passes that were low percentage, even when you’re totally on your game.

Most of these passes, I would say a good 95% of them, were cross ice, east-west passes. A few were trying to go from the corner to the point, but most were attempting to go from wing to wing or wing to center. There was always someone in the way and, more times than not, that player was in view.

For whatever reason, the Blues were trying to get cute with things instead of doing the work and letting the offense flow naturally. Credit does need to go to the Coyotes for being aggressive and getting sticks in the lanes, but the Blues were panicking with some of these passes.

Late in the second period, Tyler Bozak tried to split two defenders with a saucer pass on a shorthanded play. That pass would not connect 95 times out of 100, so it was shocking that Bozak would even attempt it since he is usually very smart with the puck. The only thing that made the play alright was that it would have been difficult to settle down and spring a counter attack from it. It was dangerous nevertheless.

Even in the third period, when the Blues tend to straighten things out, they were trying way too many blind or hopeful passes.

In fact, the Blues were quite fortunate they did not really give up any odd-man rushes off these sorts of turnovers. Every game is its own story, but it was strange to see plays being forced so often.

Pros: Parayko

The Blues big defenseman, Colton Parayko had himself a really solid game. We all know how good he is and can be, but he was showing it in spades in this contest.

Parayko had good offense overall. He was getting his shots off like you want him to. He might not have unleashed the slap shot often, but he ended the game with eight shots, which actually led the team.

More important than the shots, Parayko scored a goal too. While it did not keep the team in the lead, his goal put the Blues ahead 2-1 when it was scored. It was a nice wrister from the right circle that just snuck in under the glove.

Unlike some of his teammates, Parayko did not abandon his defensive responsibilities in an effort to score. He was thwarting a lot of Coyotes attacks in the third period.

Parayko was only credited with three hits, but he was using his size to muscle plenty of guys away from scoring areas. It was just a really nice overall game from 55.

Cons: OT and shootout

As much as I love hockey and the Blues, I hate overtimes. I think three-on-three is a joke and shootouts are just a coin toss, unless you’re the Blues, who apparently can’t make a move if their life depended on it.

Overtime in this game finally caught up with St. Louis, who had been on a solid run in the extra period. They possessed the puck way too much, not even faking shots, let alone taking them.

Then, of all things, the Blues took a too many men penalty. Bench minors are bad enough at full strength, but at three-on-three, you have one specific person to come on for.

There is absolutely no need to jump onto the ice until that person has come to the bench. How in the world two guys jump on when only one person came to the bench is beyond me.

While the Blues only had their second shootout of the season, we have reached a point where you just assume they are going to lose them. Unless Binnington or Jake Allen stand on their head in these things, the offense simply does nothing. For as much talent as the Blues possess, they look completely inept at shootouts.

When guys have breakaways, they look like they are going to score unless a big save is made. In shootouts, they just glide in and shoot it right at the blasted goalie. As a goalie, I’d take that any day of the week. It is frustrating to no end to know, with utmost certainty, that the Blues skaters will not even attempt a deke nine times out of 10. Ryan O’Reilly actually did and it, at least, forced a good save.

Overview

This game was frustrating because all the things we have said might come back to bite the Blues finally did. We have been saying they cannot keep going to the OT well or continually letting teams come back on them and that proved to be right.

The Coyotes deserve credit. They did win this game. They were energetic throughout and got solid goaltending, though I do not personally think it was as good as the announcers made out, but I digress. The bottom line is Arizona was good.

That said, the Blues had every opportunity to win. For whatever reason, they tried to force ill-timed or blind passes and were not making the simple, smart plays. That is how they have been able to win and, instead, they were trying to be skillful and pretty, which is not what they are about.

St. Louis had their chances. They put over 60 pucks toward the net and 35 were on target. There was still more that could have been accomplished.

The power play, which had been a source of pride of late, went back to allowing better chances than they created. Again, credit the Coyotes for being on their toes, but the Blues were just not doing the things that made them successful. They were holding the puck a split-second too long, forcing passes and shooting right into blocks.

Next. Give it time: Kostin and Kyrou will get their chance. dark

It is just one game. I did not see anything that would worry me long term, but losing when winning was clearly in your grasp is just a kick in the rear.

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