St. Louis Blues: On Fifth Day Of Bluesmas 2017

The St. Louis Blues might be struggling as I write this, but overall, they’ve had a great start to the season. That is shown by how many players are scoring at a high clip.

On the fifth day of Bluesmas, my true Blues gave to me, five players scoring, fourth best defending, three reinforced skates, two great goaltenders and an Adidas sweater under the tree. The St. Louis Blues actually have spread out their scoring reasonably well despite claims to the contrary.

Ok, hopefully this one does not jinx things. Those that read yesterday’s Bluesmas article will know that we praised up the team’s defense.

Most of that was because, at the time, they were ranked fourth in the league in goals against. After only one game, they dropped to eighth. I take full responsibility, but in actuality, it was bound to jump around since it was one or two goals separating several teams.

Now, on to the fifth day. The Blues are top heavy in terms of their scoring, but they have spread it out among those players quite evenly. St. Louis actually has five players with over 20 points, which is pretty good having played 35 games.

Of course, you have your big three, all of whom have more than 30 points. Interestingly enough, it is not the name we all suspected at the very top.

Brayden Schenn is leading the Blues in points, assists and goals. Now it should be said that he’s taken the top spot due to someone else’s injury, but he’s still been way more than any of us even dared to hope.

The player that had been leading the way through the bulk of the season was Jaden Schwartz. His injury came at a good time for the team, since he’ll be able to recover and get back to full fitness way before the playoffs.

Nevertheless, it came at a poor time for him. He was leading the team in goals and points when he got hurt and was on the path to a career season. Whether he kicks it back into gear when he returns in January/February is yet to be seen. Even what he’s accomplished already is pretty good.

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The third leading scorer is the one most figured would be on the top. As of writing, Vladimir Tarasenko has 15 goals and 35 points.

Some see that as a disappointment since we had all pegged him as the next 50 goal scorer. Even he said he thought it was a possibility or something to strive for.

It’s not as though he could not do it, but it seems more unlikely now. We are approaching the halfway point and 15 is a little too far from 50. 40 is plausible though. Regarless, Tarasenko remains a top scorer despite a little funk he’s currently in.

After that, there is a little bit of a dropoff, but the Blues still have two players north of 20 points at this stage. Paul Stastny and Alex Pietrangelo are the next highest scorers.

Stastny started off hot and then cooled a little bit. He was originally looking like a true top-line center again and has now settled into his role where his production is good, but not good enough for fans that look at the money being paid.

Still, 23 points is nothing to be ashamed of. Hopefully, he can kick it back into high gear.

Rounding out the top five is Pietrangelo. Like some of the others, in fact the entire team, he cooled off after a blazing start.

Still, even after a cooled second month to the season, he’s on pace to set a career high in goals and maybe even points. Much of that will depend on how quickly he shakes off the injury he just returned from.

Some might say having a defenseman as your fourth or fifth best point scorer is not good. I say that’s rubbish and it is fine.

Next: Blues Players As The Last Jedi Characters

Yes, as a team, the Blues are hurting for goals right now. Only three in their last four is not good enough, so I’m not simply drinking the Blues kool-aid here.

However, if you told me that we’d have five guys over 20 points at this part of the year, I’d take it. There are a handful of others that are on the brink of eclipsing 20 points as well.

Clearly, the Blues need more from names like Steen, Berglund and even Sobotka. However, if these current scorers can regain their touch as quickly as they lost it, this team will be fine.