St. Louis Blues: November Was Not That Great To The Team

The St. Louis Blues can look back on November and be thankful it is over. By no means did they have a bad record, but the month was not an easy ride for any involved.

When the St. Louis Blues entered the month of November, we knew it was not going to be an easy task for them. Things proved to be right.

You cannot complain too much. St. Louis still sits atop the Western Conference. They continue to battle it out with Tampa for the top standing in the league as well.

However, things did not come easily in November at all. Despite plenty of good things happening, November can be put in the rear-view mirror quite fast as far as many are concerned.

The month started out quite poorly with a shutout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. We were all hoping that Brayden Schenn, who has been a revelation otherwise, would go off on his former team. It was quite the opposite as he seemed uncomfortable at best.

The Blues turned that around with a solid win over Toronto. However, the win was clouded by the fact the Blues allowed four goals, which was something that we’d become accustomed to over the month.

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St. Louis would win their next two afterward too. The 3-1 win over New Jersey was good since the Devils have been so hot to start the year. The 3-2 shootout win over Arizona left a lot to be desired since the Blues allowed one of the league’s worst teams to do way too much.

Then the Blues got their butts handed to them for two straight games. They lost 5-2 to the Islanders and 7-4 to Calgary. The scores indicate the games were closer than they even were too. The Calgary game was particularly perplexing as the teams traded goals back and forth for ages until the Flames took hold.

It was a mixed bag from there on out. Two wins over Edmonton in easy fashion sandwiched a tight overtime win over Vancouver. That Canuck game was another where the Blues were fortunate to claim both points.

Then St. Louis ended on a rather bitter note. A win over Minnesota was another game with plenty of offense but lots of defensive flaws. Surrounding that game was a slightly embarrassing 2-0 loss to Nashville and then a 3-2 defeat to the Anaheim Ducks.

The Anaheim game was another example of being closer than you really were. The Blues got late goals to make the score respectable.

7-5 for the month is not terrible. It’s nothing to write home about either.

On the positive side, it shows how good the team was in October. They could have a slightly rough month like November with such a fantastic start.

On the negative side, the team has allowed some cracks to show. The defense has been somewhat flat-footed when pushed backward. The offense has struggled to get going early, giving teams life where they should have none.

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There is only so much complaining to do when you’re in first place. Even so, it needs to be said that November was not the team’s best showing.

December needs to be much better, but even that will be hard. Guys are focused on family and holidays and all sorts of things non-hockey related. Hopefully the Blues can refocus and find that groove they showed in October.

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