Week five was a week full of frustration and revelation. The St. Louis Blues are not the Central Division kings that we all know they can be. Week six promises to be a busy but more relaxed schedule.
After shutting the New Jersey Devils out 2-0 to start last week off, the Blues got doubled up by two teams that just looked vastly superior on the ice. The injuries the team have suffered early on are catching up to them, and it seems as though the team may be entering a bit of a rough patch.
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The New York Rangers got off to a quick start, scoring three goals in the first period. St. Louis fought back but never seemed to catch their breath after going down by three so early. This loss is an excusable one given that nobody can seem to beat NYR at the moment, they lead the league and have won nine in a row.
The game against the Chicago Blackhawks however, is not an acceptable loss, but was also not as one sided as their trip to New York. This was a much closer game that the Blues ended up losing late in the second period, but again they looked out matched.
The Blues are depleted, their lack of depth right now is a glaring hole that teams are exploiting. Taking a look at the St. Louis line combinations right now does not look so impressive, it’s a very thin group of forwards. Injury has plagued this team early this season and the production in tough match ups makes it obvious.
Outside of Tarasenko and Steen’s majestic chemistry, the forwards have lacked consistency in their production. It’s not entirely their fault as coach Hitchcock has been shuffling the lines out of panic, trying desperately to squeeze some goals out of these in-season free agency pick ups.
This week the Blues have a chance to turn it around before they really slip into a deep hole, with four winnable games on the docket.
First up this week are the Winnipeg Jets, who have lost their last four in a row and are in a slump of their own. That desperate thirst to break their losing streak is what makes this the biggest threat in week six. The Jets are a team, like the Blues, with playoff expectation from their passionate fan base. The top line for Winnipeg is one of the most productive in the league, with their second line not too far behind.
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In the second game of a back-to-back the Blues face off against newly appointed head coach John Tortorella’s Columbus Blue Jackets. This squad has struggled out of the gate and all but completely fallen apart. This is an easy win that the Blues cannot let slip away. CBJ has the potential to put up goals, but their defense is one of the weakest in the league and it should be easily exploited.
The Blues next game sees the Buffalo Sabres visit St. Louis in what is another very winnable game. The Sabres are a team similar to CBJ in that they have the offensive weapons capable of scoring goals, but they defense is one that should be exposed and exploited immediately. These two middle games this week are the games that St. Louis needs to win to give them the breathing room to stay afloat amid a unforgiving storm of injuries.
St. Louis closes the week out on Saturday with a home game against the Detroit Red Wings. At the beginning of the week the Wings and Sabres surprisingly have the same 8-8-1 record, I imagine that will change by Saturday. Detroit has had a rough start to their first season without Mike Babcock coaching in a long time. As Pavel Datsyuk makes his return to the team, the rest of the forwards have been slowly but surely picking up the pace.
Next: St. Louis Blues Begin Busy Week
Out of the four games scheduled for the St. Louis Blues this week, all of them are winnable but I think it’s safe to assume they will find a way to lose one of them. Ending the week with at least a 14-6-1 record would be pretty great, giving us something to talk about other than Parayko. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get an update on St. Louis’ season savior, Paul Stastny.