St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 36 Vs. Pittsburgh

The St. Louis Blues were once again on the verge of being able to be proud of what they had done on the ice. In their usual way, they just chuck that all to the side and go back to what does not work.

The St. Louis Blues have been consistent in one way in 2018-19. They have been consistently inconsistent and they tend to lose in spectacular fashion.

Just when you thought they might be heading in the right direction, they flush all that down the toilet. A 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins was just what the doctor ordered for us fans that keep getting fooled into thinking this team might have a chance to turn it around.

Things went the wrong way almost from the start for our Blues. They took a penalty nine seconds into the game. 39 seconds after that, they were down 1-0.

Pittsburgh would go on to score two more power play goals in the first period alone, en route to a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

St. Louis put together a decent first period after allowing the goal. However, Jake Allen had to make several key saves to keep them in the game.

Unfortunately, Allen played a part in the team’s collapse. The second Pittsburgh goal was also on the power play, but Allen saw it almost all the way. Even as a defender of his, that is a shot he needs to stop.

From there, it just went down hill. Instead of battling back when they scored the goal and coming out strong in the third, the Blues capitulated again and allowed two quick goals in the third.

That snuffed out any faint hopes of a comeback. It also continued the Blues trend of getting their butts kicked on home ice.

Cons: Penalties

At this point, I no longer care if it is a good penalty or a bad penalty or the ref had their head up their rear. The Blues find themselves in the box far too much, on penalties that did not need to happen and their penalty killing is just too inconsistent at the moment.

The Blues problem here is their penalty kill can be one of the best in the league for long stretches and then they allow eight goals in two or three games.

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Statistically, it evens out but that is just too much for a team to overcome in one game. If football games are won on special teams, hockey is often the same.

So, you cannot give up four power play goals and expect to win. You cannot give a team as good as Pittsburgh that many chances either.

You can’t let your goaltender have no help either. Even if we blame Allen for the second goal, he had no chance for most of the power plays against. He was only able to make one save on four power play shots from Pittsburgh. Blame goaltending if you wish, but there is something fundamentally wrong with your penalty kill if you allow three goals on four shots against one goalie and one goal on two shots against your backup.

Many of the penalties did not need to happen. Alexander Steen got called for an idiotic high stick seconds into the game. He took the second penalty as well, contributing directly to two goals against. Jay Bouwmeester, who had been playing well, got caught reaching on a hooking call and Joel Edmundson took a roughing call in the third.

Not only were these avoidable penalties, but they were taken by players you use prominently on your penalty kill. The Blues took the double-whammy here.

Pros: The Third Line

This one is more of an eye test than anything that can be objectively quantified. The third line was a minus-1 for the night, but they were still the team’s best line in terms of effort and consistency.

The line of Robert Thomas, Tyler Bozak and Pat Maroon continue to be one of the shining lights of an example for this team. However, as we have said of individual players in past years, if your best line is your third or fourth line, that is not saying much for the rest of your team.

That should take nothing away from these guys though. They played well and with heart, which is something fans tend to notice.

One of the odd things about St. Louis is that they want effort and drive. When the team was in dire straights in the mid-2000’s, a poll was taken and most fans said they would rather have a team that gave their all every night than one that was more talented and won, but had plenty of nights off.

That is what you are getting with this current third line of the Blues. Maybe they don’t score as much as you want, but they are out there plugging away every shift.

While we are not yet seeing the stats we wanted from Thomas, this kind of effort put out will help him in the long run. While I do not completely agree with having a blue collar team instead of a championship one, I would much rather have my skill guys learn to put in the hard work rather than just float around on the top two lines and say they just did not get the breaks.

Cons: Another Ass Whooping

My apologies if that language is too strong for some, but that’s what it is. The Blues have had their asses handed to them several times, including this game. Making matters worse, they seem to always get humbled at home.

The Blues have allowed six or more goals in four of their last eight home games. That is not good enough at any time, but when you are getting embarrassed regularly in front of your own fans, wasting their hard-earned money, it compounds all of it.

In addition, the Blues keep letting some of the best in the league beat them. Most teams do their utmost to contain the stars of the other team and if the rest beat you, so be it.

The Blues take the opposite approach. They magically let some of the best in the game get to prime areas all alone where they can heavily influence the game.

Sidney Crosby had four points in this game against the Blues. According to multiple tweets, Crosby is the sixth player to have a a four point night against the Blues this season and we are not even officially half way through the year.

That is the most four point games given up in one season since the Blues allowed seven in 2002-03. That just cannot happen if you consider yourself a good team.

You give these opponents like Crosby or Patrik Laine credit because they are superstars of the game. But if you cannot find ways to keep those guys off the scoresheet, it means you are not doing your job, which is to shut down the other team’s best.

Overview

I often say we and sometimes I do it in a way of self defense. So, we sort of expected this kind of performance since the Blues had played so well in two straight wins. Heaven forbid we get an actual win streak going and push it to three.

Again, you cannot take credit away from the Penguins. They are one of the league’s best and showed it. They took advantage of every Blues mistake and buried them when given the opportunity.

However, it is just so frustrating to see the continued feast or famine from this club. It began as radio chatter and has become reality – they either win impressively or get their ass handed to them.

The talent is there, but they refuse to play for and with each other for more than a couple games at a time. This game was a prime example of the individual contractor mentality creeping back in, as the radio postgame show alluded to.

Not only did you have mistakes, but plenty of mistakes that were clearly the result of no communication. There were far too many drop passes or passes to nobody where they ended up back in the Blues defensive zone that could have been avoided if anyone was talking to one another.

Instead, they were all just out there doing their own thing, hoping their teammate would sort of figure it out. That is not how good, fundamental hockey is played. We get on Vladimir Tarasenko‘s case for too much roaming, but in reality this entire team just roams around hoping for the best instead of playing within themselves and making the best happen.

It is beyond frustrating to continually be duped by this team. We keep telling ourselves it won’t happen, but we get suckered in by the small improvements that can be built upon.

It does not help that nobody is running away with playoff spots, so the Blues could get themselves back into the race if they would stop being a bunch of idiots.

Instead you get a team that bombs in the return of the team captain, further fueling the possibility that he is an issue. Whether coincidence or not, this team just finds inventive ways to flounder and it is fraying the nerves of the fan base beyond recognition.