St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Oil Stikes The Blues
By Todd Panula
Good morning Blues fans! Well, as good a morning as it can be as we have a bit of a losing streak going. One more game remains for the Blues to salvage this road trip.
The St. Louis Blues traveled west to Canada flying high. Maybe the airplane stole some of the wind from their sails because the team has dropped two in a row.
The Blues fell in overtime to Vancouver and then last night got their first regulation loss in Edmonton. It’s been disappointing because the Blues played well enough to win in both, but didn’t do enough to earn the wins.
Credit where credit is due, the Oilers are much improved from last season. Connor McDavid is for real and has speed for days.
The Oilers managed to play much better defense than any of us would have expected given how many goals they conceded to that point as well. Yes, they allowed over 30 shots to the Blues, but many were from the perimeter and only a handful truly challenged Cam Talbot.
The Blues are going to have to find another gear regardless of injuries. They aren’t playing bad by any means, but if they want to be seen as contenders, they need to dominate games instead of just getting by.
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Defensively, they need to stop having so many mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, of course, but so far in 2016-17, it seems like the Blues mistakes cost them every time.
Offensively, they still need to get the puck to the net more often. That sounds weird given they’ve outshot most of their opponents so far, but again it is about the quality of the shots.
They still pass up too many chances to attempt a pretty pass. They still miss the target when a goal could have been had if it was on target.
Still, 3-1-1 is not too bad to start the year. If you gave that to most Blues fans before the start of the season, they would probably take it.
Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started right.
In case you missed it, two of the three Blues stars from last night talked to the media after the game. Nail Yakupov discussed playing his old team and Jake Allen talks McDavid. (Blues)
The Oilers had to feel a little weird seeing a former one of their own score on them. Their fans were just as weirded out, but clearly pleased with the result for the night. (Oil on Whyte)
The fans weren’t the only ones disappointed in the Blues offensive output. Robby Fabbri knows the goals are there and the team just needs to connect. (Fox Sports Midwest)
He was a scratch last night, but you can be sure we have not seen the last of Magnus Paajarvi. The question is whether he can actually be a valuable piece. (St. Louis Gametime)
The St. Louis Blues aren’t the only team with a checkered history in goal. The Calgary Flames are still searching for answers even with a former Blue in their goal at present. (Flame for Thought)
The Blues will be facing the LA Kings a little over a week from now. They won’t have to worry about Jonathan Quick for quite some time though. (LA Times)
Have a great day Blues fans. Let’s get the Flames this weekend.