St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Without Kevin Shattenkirk, Same Old Blues

Good morning Blues fans! The Blues could breathe a sigh of relief now that the Kevin Shattenkirk ordeal was over. Unfortunately, they played the same way they have been with him in the lineup and that was not a good thing.

Well, it seems like the St. Louis Blues are the St. Louis Blues no matter who puts on the sweater. Even without Kevin Shattenkirk, the team played the same way they have the last few games and thus extended their current losing streak to four.

The Blues had a lot to play for. They could show that they could still get things done on the powerplay without Shattenkirk. They could end their losing streak and get some much needed points. The Blues could also help themselves out in the playoff race.

Instead, none of it happened. Well, technically the first part happened. The Blues did get a very nice tip-in goal from Paul Stastny as he deflected an Alex Pietrangelo shot-pass on the man-advantage. Other than that, the night was fairly devoid of anything positive.

Again, like they have been in all four of their losses and every loss since Mike Yeo took over, they were not as bad as they had been earlier in the year. The team still put in effort and looked like they cared. They simply were not good enough in several areas.

No matter what people want to say, goaltending was not one of those areas. Jake Allen kept the team in the game with several unorthodox saves and the Blues gave him no support. One can argue he should have saved the first goal since he did almost get it, but you try stopping a deflected shot from that distance and see how hard it is to gauge the puck even if you see it clearly.

Defensively, the Blues looked fine. The entire team looked a bit helpless when trying to deal with the Edmonton Oilers’ speed. You could not really tell a big difference without Shattenkirk though. If anything, the team looked a little more fundamentally sound defensively. Perhaps exiting the zone was the only difficulty.

Offensively…ugh, I don’t know. It’s just not very good right now. I don’t blame anything on the line changes, but why do we have to keep falling back to the STL line?

Magnus Paajarvi did a very good job, but he is not a top line player. Leave Vladimir Tarasenko with Alexander Steen and Stastny. Lehtera is doing him no good no matter what “chemistry” the two think they have.

The Blues didn’t have any luck as they rang a sure goal off the bar for the second straight game. That said, they did not create their own luck either.

Unlike almost every other team in the league (at least when they play the Blues), St. Louis won’t shoot. Nobody needs to quote the shot count to me, since I was there. The shot total does not matter when the team is constantly looking for the backdoor play or a tip-in.

The Blues never just bomb away and scrap for rebounds. They always want an “easy” goal. This is not the NHL of the 90’s, but you still have to get to the hard areas of the ice to score and too often this team won’t do it.

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Making it all the more frustrating is their consistent look for a tip-in. How can a team that does not want to go to the front of the net think they can get so many deflections? That’s why it does not happen enough.

All this said, this is still a playoff team. Naysayers and doomseekers can whine all they want, but the Blues will make it in.

Los Angeles is better than they were a week ago, but people have a knack for seeing the worst scenario. There is a reason the Kings have not made a move until now and it is because they are just as inconsistent (if not more so) than the Blues. The same can be said for almost 50% of the Western Conference.

The Blues are their only enemy. Play like they can during the win streak and they get in. Play like they have the last four and maybe you don’t.

Oh, and for anyone thinking missing the playoffs will be good, think otherwise. Tom Stillman will make his decisions based on reason, not whether the team made the playoffs or not. Doug Armstrong will be retained or not based on his performances, not because fans think they deserved a team that would take the next step.

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

While the Kevin Shattenkirk saga is over on the ice and in the offices, it may never end for fans and media. Armstrong came out and said the Blues were willing to give Shattenkirk an eight-year extension and the defenseman turned it down. His reasoning, while forthright, was a bit disappointing but understandable. (STLToday)

The Blues are about 95% likely to be done with trades after the Shattenkirk deal. With that remaining 5% remains a faint glimmer of hope the team still adds something. Our own Steven Conklin takes a look at three deals the team should still consider making before 2pm rolls around. (Bleedin’ Blue)

In the head scratcher category, we have rumors of a certain goaltender’s return to St. Louis. Though I was a fan of him during his time here, bringing him back would make less than 0% sense…yes, negative sense. Hopefully, it’s just trade chatter to get clicks. (Arch Authority)

Mentioned in our own three deals the team might make, but going into more depth is another fantastical move that will never happen. It’s sad we have soured so much on Jori Lehtera, but right now getting rid of his contract might be worth more than keeping him around. (Fan Rag)

Next: Shattenkirk, The Man, Will Be Missed Even If The Player Is Not

File this one under the “oh my god, the Blackhawks made a deal so our world is crashing down!” part of fans’ brains. In reality, who cares? Chicago will not win or lose based on this deal. (ESPN)

Last, but not least, you can refresh to your heart’s content at the league’s trade tracker page. I’m sure plenty of people will hope to see the Blues pop up on there, but just as many will probably be looking for rivals so they can say “see, they are actually improving their team!” (NHL)

Have a great day Blues fans! 2 pm can’t get here fast enough for me.