The St. Louis Blues looked poised and ready to shrug off this latest batch of injuries and get back to their winning ways. Unfortunately, what fans ended up seeing was a complete show.
The Blues came out at the very beginning of the first period and looked solid. They looked quick and had a lot of energy. They were buzzing around the net and creating. Robby Fabbri pinged one off the glove-side post early on. If not for Pekka Rinne, they might have scored one, maybe even two.
Instead, after one period, the Blues were down 1-0 on a lucky goal. Mike Ribero appeared to have knocked it down with a high stick and Craig Smith was wide open for the tap in on the back side for the score. It would be all downhill for St. Louis after that.
Filip Forsberg scored a hat-trick and the Blues mustered absolutely no offense. Forsberg’s first came off a deflected shot from the point, where he was alone on the back side with the defenders puck watching.
The second one was a sniper’s shot, beating Jake Allen low to the glove side. However, Allen did not see the puck until late as both Blues’ defenders were backing off way too much and Kevin Shattenkirk ended up screening his own goaltender.
Forsberg’s third was just a fantastic goal. It came off a cross ice pass during a powerplay and settled perfectly for the young player’s second natural hat-trick.
🎩🎩🎩
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 27, 2016
Filip Forsberg's second natural hat trick in three games. Yeah, you read that right. #Preds #STLvsNSHhttps://t.co/TA87MBXsue
An early third period goal for Nashville made it 5-0 as Pheonix Copley was beaten high to the short side. Even when the Blues tried to turn it on, it just wasn’t their day. Robby Fabbri shot right into Rinne’s glove on a breakaway and then Colton Parayko was denied by a diving blocker save after he appeared to have lifted it enough to get it over Rinne’s pad.
On top of Nashville completely outplaying St. Louis in the second period, the officials just had an awful day. There really wasn’t any one call or calls that truly cost the Blues this game, but when Bernie Federko and Darren Pang are getting on the refs’ case, you know things are bad.
First, David Backes went into the box for goaltender interference. In actuality, Backes was pushed into Rinne, who stumbled over him and then pushed Backes. Instead of a no-call or interference on Nashville, the Blues end up in the box.
Then there was this beauty of a hit on Jaden Schwartz:
Schwartz is in a vulnerable position, you don't make this hit. Ellis does, but there's no call.
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) February 27, 2016
HOW? #stlblues pic.twitter.com/kbPF9ExgY5
That is an illegal hit, no matter how you slice it. But, as is usual, the Blues end up getting the only penalty as Backes went in the box again after sticking up for his teammate.
It was an incredibly poor display all around. Poor officiating and poor play from the Blues. Nashville wasn’t doing anything overly impressive, but they did more than enough to win and pretty much embarassed the Blues. Forsberg was a beast as well.
This was not the rebound game the Blues were in need of. It’s funny how sports are the ultimate example of “what have you done for me lately?” The Blues were flying during a five game win streak and people were thinking about taking the division again.
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Now, the losing streak has hit three – losses to the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers and Nashville – and fans are ready to jump ship and hit the reset button for next season.
This team has been plagued by injury all season, but at this point it can’t be an excuse. Yes, lines are being juggled around and players who would either be third or fourth liners are being pushed up the lineup but the same mistakes are being made. Shots aren’t being taken, the Blues are looking for pretty plays and defenders are backing off and losing their marks.
Down 4-0 and receving a powerplay isn’t the time to be looking for the backdoor play. This team has to pound the net and look for rebounds. Yet, this has been their modus operandi the past few years so maybe it’s too late to expect them to change.
Next: Blues Add Goaltending Depth
The Blues are likely to be too handcuffed to make any deals. This team has to figure out how to win with the people they have in the lineup and hope to get some players back soon. Help is likely not coming. It’s time for this team to gut out some games, starting with tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Random Thoughts:
- On the bright side, Pheonix Copley got his first NHL action and looked ok, given all the circumstances. It’s by no means how anyone wanted him to get into a game, but given the trade for Anders Nilsson, it was good for him to get some action before likely returning to the minors.
- David Backes was one of the lone bright spots. Obviously he didn’t score, but he was physical, stuck up for his teammates and created a little offense.
- Where were Vladimir Tarasenko and Schwartz? It honestly seemed like Schwartz wasn’t playing since you never heard his name for almost two periods and Tarasenko was held in check too easily. These guys can’t do it alone, but they have to do better.