St. Louis Blues: Pros And Cons From Game 64 Against Minnesota

The St. Louis Blues keep squandering game after game and performance after performance. Perhaps the people saying they will miss the playoffs will be correct, in the end.

The St. Louis Blues, again, had a chance to push themselves back into a playoff spot. They, again, had an opportunity to right the ship with a hard fought game. Instead, they got humiliated and embarrassed yet again.

Nothing seems to get through to this current incarnation of the Blues. Bench guys and nothing. Trade an important piece and nothing. Yell and scream or pat them on the back and give them a day off and the result is the same.

At this point, there is no answer. There is no cure. This team is not going to go winless the rest of the season, but they are going to be lucky to be even close to .500 the way things are going.

Nobody is to blame and everyone is to blame. The goaltending was not great, but the defending was worse. The offense finally showed a spark, but they did not help in the defensive zone enough. The coaching staff can’t make the right adjustments, if they are making adjustments at all.

The Blues are just a failure right now and it is painful to watch.

They are playing tough teams, there is no doubt of that. Minnesota played an extremely good game and capitalized on everything they needed to.

That said, the Blues just did not put up enough resistance. Even when there was a goaltending change, you would think there’d be some jump. The Blues scored right off the hop in the second period and then it all came crashing down again.

Cons:

The Blues may as well give up on Jake Allen for the bulk of the season.

I will defend the Snake until the end. I did not think he was solely responsible for any of the goals given up in this game. That said, the team seems to dread when he is in there.

Nobody will admit it and good on them for that, but you can tell they just don’t play with any confidence. That’s a shame because it would be better to play harder and lift up your teammate, but it just does not seem to be going that way at the moment.

Hutton cannot play the rest of the games, but maybe he should be given the reigns. The team did not defend any better for him in Minnesota – perhaps even worse – but they seem more inclined to attempt scoring.

Pros:

Vladimir Tarasenko sprang back to life.

Tarasenko was one of only two or three forwards that looked like they actually gave a damn about this game. That’s not to say the effort was not there, but the execution is about as lax as it can be.

Tarasenko finally took this team by the scruff and tried to lead this team as best he could. Two goals is about as much as you can realistically ask for from him. A hat-trick would be great, but even four goals would not have been enough on this night.

Still, it was good to see Vlady show some emotion and drive.

Tarasenko now has 26 goals. With 18 games left, he should get up to 30 once again. It’s of little consolation now, but that’s still a decent number even in an off year.

Cons:

The Blues just cannot keep the goals out.

At this point, it is beyond useless to argue what the problem is. You blame the goaltending, I blame the defense. Does it really matter anymore?

St. Louis allowed eight goals in one game. Imagine that – eight goals.

Making matters worse, they’ve allowed 19 goals in their last five games. They’ve allowed 28 goals in their last eight games.

That is unfathomable. Even if the team was scoring, they do not possess the kind of offense capable of putting up those numbers on a consistent basis.

What changes can be made? That’s the frustrating thing right now.

Everyone is just diving all around and crowding the goalie or screening him. They’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I honestly think even the most astute hockey person really has no clue about what they can change at this juncture. There are so many things going on that changing one thing would have minimal affect.

Pros:

The Blues showed a little fight.

This one is reaching, I fully admit. However, when things are this wrong, I have to attempt finding anything to consider a positive.

Whether you were disgusted by the final score or just demoralized, the Blues did show a little fight earlier in the game. We’ve seen them go goalless in several games recently.

In fact, the Blues had not scored in over 150 minutes when they finally put one in. That gave them some good energy making the game 2-1.

They fell down 3-1 but scored again. The offense kept plugging away and giving the Blues chances. You can make the case if Alexander Steen had buried an open net chance, which would have tied the game, this contest would have been different.

Again, it’s positive for positive sake. It’s nice to see a few goals go in though.

Overall Thoughts:

The Blues are beyond hopeless right now.

What more can any of us say? We sit online and chirp at each other, trying to come up with answers or lay blame with specific people.

The truth is this is an issue involving at least 30 people. Just about everyone that has put on a Blues jersey this season has been part of the problem. The coaching staff is part of the problem. The general manager is part of the problem.

All of those things were evident in this game. The trade had no impact. The coaching staff’s adjustments had no impact. With the exception of three, maybe four players, nobody on the roster had enough impact.

Next: Trade Deadline Disappointing, But Perhaps Necessary

There is nothing this team can do right now. It sounds silly, but they just need a game where things bounce their way. Right now it’s not going their way at all and that gets into their head.

I’m not saying one good game could turn the season, because even as a positive person I don’t fully believe that. I do know that no amount of effort will turn this around because they’re clearly trying too hard as it is.

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