The St. Louis Blues will travel to Edmonton to begin another road trip through Canada before the Christmas break, and they will run into familiar faces.
The St. Louis Blues recorded one of their most emotional wins last Friday when they defeated the Colorado Avalanche in overtime 3-2, but then followed that win up with one of the worst performances of the season on Sunday against the Calgary Flames.
This was yet another chance for the Blues to win three in a row for the first time this season. Instead, the Blues laid an egg, and now it’s looking like the team is closer to gutting the roster, than they are getting back into contention.
Edmonton Oilers (5th Place In Pacific)
Record: 18-13-3
Last 10: 7-2-1
Season Series: EDM Leads 1-0
Point Leaders: Connor McDavid (49), Leon Draisaitl (42)
The previous meeting between these two teams ended in a shootout win for the Oilers, but you could argue that the game should have never reached overtime. The Oilers tied the game with under one minute remaining in the third period and eventually took home two points.
The trip to Edmonton will feature some familiar faces for Blues fans. Ken Hitchcock took over behind the bench for the Oilers midway through the season, and the former Blues bench boss has turned the team around.
On the ice, Kyle Brodziak and Ty Rattie will be facing off against some of their former teammates. Brodziak singed in Edmonton as a free agent over the summer, while Rattie was picked up off waivers last season.
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My optimism is dwindling slowly by the game, and at this point in the season I am closer to wanting the Blues to tank for top prospect Jack Hughes, then I am wanting to wait for the team to turn their season around.
I would be surprised if the Blues went with Jordan Binnington in goal after he replaced Jake Allen last game.
The boo birds were out again on Sunday at the Enterprise Center, and the majority of them were directed at Allen, again. However, Darren Pang said it best on the FoxSports Midwest broadcast, “If you’re going to boo Jake Allen, then you need to boo every player who touched the puck.”
This is absolutely spot on. This is a team sport, and anyone watching the game knows that although some of the blame can be put on Allen, the team in front of him was abysmal, lethargic, sluggish, and any other synonym you can think of.
It’s time for the Blues to sink or swim, at this point in the season, I think it is smarter to sink, and I mean sink into the depths of the oceans because at least St. Louis will get a lottery pick and a chance at a generational talent.