The St. Louis Blues keep on keepin’ on with regards to their 2017-18 season. It seems like whatever you throw at them they deal with and keep finding ways to win.
Who knew the St. Louis Blues would look like a juggernaut through the first dozen games of the 2017-18 season? That’s what they have looked like for the majority of the time on the ice and there was not much to change that idea as they took on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
St. Louis seems to be able to overcome just about everything in this early portion of the season. Injuries? No problem. Slow starts to games? They’ll find some late goals.
Poor defending? The goaltenders will find a way. Mediocre goaltending? The defenders will step up their game or the offense will score more than their fair share.
The Blues have also had their share of back-to-backs as well. We have not completed a full month’s worth of games and St. Louis has already played a duo of games three times. They have yet to lose any of those.
This one seemed tailor made for the Blues to drop one. They had a game on the east coast against Carolina the night before. Despite a relatively easy game physically, the travel and having to play a fast game might have taken things out of them.
Instead, the Blues came out and got the job done with a 4-1 win. Of course, everything was not perfect but it was a pretty good performance overall.
Pros:
The Blues got goals from some unexpected places.
The first two goals of the game were scored by Vladimir Sobotka and Scottie Upshall. No offense to either of those players, but if you chose them to score the first goal or even any of the goals in this game, you deserve some recognition.
Both goals were due to some good fortune. Sobotka scored after Colton Parayko‘s snap shot trickled through the elbow of the goaltender.
Upshall’s score was a good skate deflection off a Joel Edmundson shot. These were the sorts of goals the Blues have been needing.
Edmundson would get his own with the team’s third goal. Then another one from the fourth line as Kyle Brodziak picked up a score.
You don’t expect to get goals from your fourth line or even a technical second liner that should be further down the lineup. When you get it, that benefits your team and lifts you up.
St. Louis has needed that extra lift to take some of the burden off the main guys. Good to see it finally happen.
Cons:
The power play has gone silent again.
The Blues’ power play seemed like it had some stuff figured out. They scored a couple against Calgary. They turned around and went 0/3 against the Blue Jackets.
It is bad enough to not score on your man-advantage, but the Blues allow too many breaks. Each of their three power plays, the Blues relied on a big save from Jake Allen to stop a potential short-handed goal against.
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St. Louis could not get a goal from their best scorer on a power play break away either. You would expect those shots to go in.
Power plays are an odd thing. Your best teams have lower averages than a baseball player. However, it just seems like the Blues are way too hot and cold.
At this point, getting one power play goal every other game would be a big step in the right direction.
Pros:
Jake Allen bailed out the team on several occasions after a break.
Allen played against the Calgary Flames on October 25. So, he had three nights off, which has been a rare commodity in this early part of the season.
The “extended” break had no ill effect on his game. He was a little shaky on some early rebounds, but that has been the case in several games.
Overall, Allen was on top of things and came up with some huge saves when the team needed them.
One of them was of his own making, but we have seen those go in in the past, but not this year. Allen cleaned up his own spilled milk on this occasion.
Cons:
The Blues lose the faceoff battle again.
It seems like a broken record because it has happened in just about every game other than one. We are still early in the season, but you wonder how long this can keep up.
Clearly the Blues do not have to win the majority of faceoffs to be successful in the regular season. They are finding ways to get around it.
It is concerning around the playoffs. Failed offensive zone faceoffs mean you don’t spend enough time in the opponent’s zone. The same is true in reverse.
The Blues have found ways to not make it matter this season and in this game. The only goal allowed had nothing to do with a faceoff.
Still, it worries you like the power play did last season. It might not matter in the regular season, but it could be a reason the Blues can’t get it done if it keeps up in the playoffs.
Pros:
The Blues continue to put some space between them and the division.
This has less to do with this specific game and more to do with an overall look at their positive play. Regardless of what is going on right now, the division is going to be tough.
The Blues keep winning and doing so in relatively impressive fashion. Chicago has slipped up and the rest of the division is jockeying back and forth. The Blues keep finding ways to be steady and that has now gained them a seven point gap.
Overall Thoughts:
A good overall game with some high notes from the right people.
You’re not always going to have games like this where odd guys score. However, you’re not always going to get four point nights or two goal performances from your top-six forwards. So, you need these nights sprinkled in throughout the year.
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In addition to the scoring, the third line guys seemed to have gelled a little bit. Oskar Sundqvist is looking like an NHL player finally.
The only bad things about this string of play is you start to expect it. When the Blues find ways to get it done in several different ways, it makes the times when it doesn’t happen all the more jarring. With that in mind, let’s all just enjoy it for what it is.