St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Preseason Game 6 Vs. Dallas

The St. Louis Blues took on the Dallas Stars in their final home game of the 2018 preseason. While it was an up and down affair, it ended with a Blues victory.

The St. Louis Blues faced a division rival in their final home game of the current preseason. While it was not the full Dallas lineup, the Stars still packed a stacked lineup.

The Blues came out like a house of fire in the first period. They outshot the Stars by a margin of 10, 14-4 overall. However, they squandered all their opportunities, including several power plays.

As is the case with sports sometimes, the result did not match the effort. The Blues outperformed the Stars in the first and could not score, but the Stars outperformed St. Louis in the second and the Blues went into the intermission with the lead.

The Blues managed another goal in the third, going up by two goals. Then, the Stars scored a late one before the Blues managed an empty net goal to seal it all up.

It was not exactly the best performance, start to finish. However, getting that winning feeling as the regular season is important.

Cons: Coming Up Empty In the First Period

These kinds of things are going to happen over the course of an 82 game season. That said, it’s disappointing that the Blues played so well and could not manage to score a single goal in the first.

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The team had 14 shots on goal. They had three power plays in the first period alone. They had breakaways on goal and quality chances.

Despite all that, the Blues could not crack the score sheet. These things happen, but they seem to happen to the Blues far too often.

Pros: Jayden Schwartz

Jayden Schwartz is showing why so many people think so highly of him. As they said during the radio broadcast, if healthy, he can and will be one of the most dynamic players in the game.

He is not only a scorer, but a pure energy blast for the Blues. He goes to places on the ice that most players with his talent fear to tread and he continued that in this game.

Schwartz’ goal came after a third effort on goal. He was denied by the Dallas goaltender twice and then kept jabbing away at it. Lots of players would have just sighed and given up. Schwartz kept at it, got the goal and helped his team win.

In addition, he got an assist on the team’s first goal and was barely denied on another chance simply because he popped it over the net.

If Schwartz can stay healthy, there is no reason he cannot score 30 goals.

Cons: The power play

The Blues power play is past the point of saying this is just preseason. They still have a few excuses, such as experimental lines and a scheme that is still being fully implemented.

The Blues went 0-5 with the man advantage in this game. As mentioned, they missed out on three power plays in one period alone.

The problem that continues with the power play is the little problems. The scheme seems to have improved and they can create more. However, they miss the simple plays.

Pucks roll over sticks. Passes to the point go out of the zone. Entry into the zone is made to seem impossible at times.

Hopefully things get ironed out as they get the lineup set in stone. The power play has to be better if this team can achieve special things.

Pros: Jake Allen

Despite his detractors and despite the claims that this was only a preseason game, Jake Allen was a big reason the Blues won this game. They had to score goals, but Allen had to keep them out.

Allen deserved a shutout in this game, given how well he played. It was only a lax bit of defense as the Stars had six attackers that led to their eventual goal.

Allen made some solid saves in this contest. He made a sparkling save in the second period to keep the Blues ahead by one.

The Snake made several stops on the doorstep at the end of the game as well. With the Stars knocking on the door, Allen turned out the lights and kept them at bay.

It was a solid game to head into the regular season since Allen will likely not play the entire game in the final preseason contest.

Overview

The Blues continued to get the performances from the right people. Schwartz got three points. Vladimir Tarasenko scored. Ryan O’Reilly scored as well.

Allen made several quality saves and was a large reason the team won. The Blues played well defensively, overall, with the exception of the final moments of the game.

Last, but not least, they scored an empty net goal. That happens so rarely for the Blues, we can all take it as a positive.

This might be the last true game since there is a chance the Blues will go with a more youthful roster in Washington. Time will tell on that, but the Blues came together and beat one of the better teams in the conference. It was a nice way to cleanse the pallet after a bit of a stinker against the Capitals.