The St. Louis Blues got fans hopes up right at the start. Instead of waiting until the very end to crush them, they made it a longer process
Well, St. Louis Blues fans, we got what we wanted. The Blues managed to not give away a third period lead, so we have that going for us.
Instead of playing their trademark two periods before crashing, the Blues settled for only one period. They went up 2-0 in the first period and then it all went to pot.
Not that it would have made much of a difference, but the Blues could not even finish the first period with the lead they should have. Instead of going into the break with a 2-0 lead, they allowed Columbus to score close to the break, giving them momentum heading into the second period.
That was all the Blue Jackets would need. They bumrushed the Blues the rest of the game and would outscore them 6-2 in the final two periods.
Columbus is a talented team with high playoff aspirations, but they are not and should not be the kind of team this can happen against. A 7-4 loss reflects more on how poorly the Blues played than actually being dominated by Columbus. That is not meant to take anything away from them as they took advantage of all the Blues mistakes. It is merely meant to point out that if this team was playing even halfway decent defense, this could have still been a 4-3 win.
The Blues find ways to give up on the game an each other right now. These games are getting hard to watch for fans and by the end, we either lash out at one another or we laugh because the entire thing is so absurd.
There are flashes with this team. You know it could be there. Even though we are not 10 games in, though, it is hard to see this actually being turned around.