St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 9 Vs. Columbus

Pros: Vladimir Tarasenko

It’s become the in-thing to rip on Vladimir Tarasenko for not scoring every single game and not getting two or more goals in every other game. Apparently we are all unaware that the top scorers in the league rarely get to 50 goals these days and there are 82 games in a season.

That said, Tarasenko has been way too streaky in his career. He will go off for a few games and then disappear. Hopefully this game was the start of one of his hot streaks.

The goal that Tarasenko scored will not go down in his highlight reel, but they all count. He proved why this team needs to get more pucks on net as he banked a goal in off the back of an unaware goaltender. It was not a goalscorer’s goal, but sometimes those are the ones you need to take the pressure off.

On top of that, Tarasenko was playing a solid game with his linemates. Since last season I have advocated for him not to play with Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn since there was a disconnect. They seemed to come together a little more in this game.

It will not go down in the stats as an assist, but Tarasenko also helped set up the Blues second goal. His presence and stick position managed to force the turnover, which the Blues would score on immediately after. Tarasenko is not known for his defense, but he was in on the forecheck and doing his job and the team was rewarded for it.