The St. Louis Blues touted the impressive nature of their lineup heading into their fifth preseason game. Unfortunately it was matched and surpassed by Washington.
The St. Louis Blues came into their fifth preseason game knowing they were facing the defending Stanley Cup champions. While this was not the same Washington team that hoisted the Cup a few months prior, it was as close as you’re likely to see in the preseason.
St. Louis was touting their own impressive lineup, but the results did not match the hype. Some of that was due to a fantastic goaltending performance by the opponent and some was the same old Blues creeping back into the building.
Regardless, it was a somewhat stale result that leaves a rather unpleasant taste in the mouth. The Blues fell 4-0 with the final goal being an empty net.
Cons: The Allen Bashers Get An Early Start
I do my best not to get involved in this garbage, I really do. However, I already saw people ripping Jake Allen in his first preseason action of the year, going against one of the better teams in the league.
At this point, it’s just pure bias that is based on nothing but an unrelenting hatred. There are stats to back up people that don’t like him and stats to back up those that do. I can’t understand why we can’t just let him play and hope for the best instead of hoping for the worst just so you can say I told you so.
The haters were basically saying both goals were Allen’s fault. Neither of them were.
The first goal was a one-time slap shot from the circle that was over his shoulder before he could even react.
The second, if you want to assign blame, you could say his rebound control was not on par. However, under normal circumstances, that puck is steered into the corner. Instead, it takes a lucky hop off a Washington player, comes back in front and is finished off by a diving forward.
Anyway, it’s a waste to argue the point. Allen was not his sharpest and will improve as the preseason goes on and he gets actual practice time too. For now, we should just lump this in with all the “it’s just preseason” talk.
Pros: Good Energy From The Grinders
The Blues don’t have any old-school grinders where you send out an entire line, just for energy. However, they have a good amount of guys that will get in your face when the situation arises.
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The situation arose against Washington. Pat Maroon, Brayden Schenn and Robert Bortuzzo all got into legitimate fights. There were several scraps in between plays by other guys as well.
This was good to see because, despite all the good things we’ve seen from some of the offensive guys, as Chris Kerber put it, there was not a ton of emotion in these preseason games. That changed in a hurry in the first of two games against the Capitals.
Cons: Getting Shut Out
Hey, it’s preseason right? Well, it is, but it is never a good thing to get shutout by another team. That is especially true when facing a former member of your organization.
Pheonix Copley was only in St. Louis for a cup of coffee, seeing action in a total of two NHL games with the Blues. Nevertheless, he decided to take up where Curtis Joseph left off and play out of his mind facing his former team.
Copley faced 42 shots, several of which were quality chances. The Blues put some pressure on, but could not crack the wall. They had some breakaways, power plays and chances in tight and came up empty each time.
You do have to tip your hat to the Washington netminder. Still, it just does not sit right to get shutout in today’s NHL.
Pros: Faceoffs
This is one I do not chalk up to preseason. The Blues dominated the faceoff circle and their new additions were a gigantic reason why.
St. Louis won a whopping 63% of their draws. Tyler Bozak won 67% of his faceoffs and was 9-10 heading into the third period. Ryan O’Reilly won 68% in the circle.
Robert Thomas was the low man and still won 43% of his faceoffs. Even Schenn got in on it, winning 64% of his draws.
Those are important numbers to sustain, if possible, because winning faceoffs sets you up for success. If you’re on the PK, winning draws does not let the other team set up. If you’re even strength of on a power play, it lets you slide into the offense better.
Cons: Same Old Sorry Power Play
I feel a bit of a hypocrite bashing the power play just days after giving it praise. However, these articles are meant to look at the games more in a vacuum.
With that in mind, the Blues sorry power play returned. They had a five-on-three attack for a full two minutes. Not only did they fail to score, but they only created one (maybe two) quality chances. On top of that, they took a penalty for too many men right at the end of that power play.
On top of all that, I still do not agree with having Vladimir Tarasenko at the point. I get that they are trying different schemes and you can only have so many guys closer to the net, but his shot, as hard as it is, is not meant to come from the blue line. He does have the freedom to move into the slot and circles, but it just does not suit his talents to be that far from net more often than not.
I don’t want to hear this nonsense of being the quarterback either. You don’t take your best goalscorer and make him a playmaker on special teams, in my opinion.
Overview
It was a small step back for the Blues, getting taken to school by the defending champions. That said, it was still preseason.
It is not as though this is the final game before the regular season. We need not worry too much about any of the problems, outside of the power play issue, which simply has to be better in 2018-19.
Allen is going to be fine. It was his first game in months, going against a team that was reasonably close to what the Capitals would show on opening night. The Snake did have some rust, but that’ll be shaken off by the time the team has to lean on him.
The kids were one of the few things you could point at and say it was not what you hoped for. Other than Thomas’ faceoffs, most of the young guys found out what it’s like to compete against actual NHL talent and not preseason rosters. Hopefully, they learn from that and come out harder in the next game.
On the bright side, it’s only two more preseason games and then we can drop the puck for real. I am still excited for the season and I know most of you are too.