St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 39 Vs. NY Islanders

The St. Louis Blues showed as good and as bad as they can be in one game against the New York Islanders. Sadly, the good came in front of the bad and it ended rather poorly.

The St. Louis Blues came out very well against the New York Islanders. It looked like they might be able to carry over all the good things they showed against the Washington Capitals in the previous game.

St. Louis looked pretty sharp and was solid defensively. It looked like it was all going to go swimmingly after the first period.

The Blues scored first four minutes in and then added another goal four minutes from the end. It should have been a quality start to build off of.

Instead, the Blues basically stayed in the locker room after that opening frame.

The Islanders cut the lead in half after the second period and then it got worse from there. New York scored two goals within 11 seconds to go from 2-1 down to 3-2 ahead.

It all ended in a 4-3 loss that seemed to show everything wrong with this team. It was incredibly frustrating, not just to lose but to see it all unfold and know there was nothing that would change it.

The Blues deserve credit for sticking with it until the end, but the story of 2018-19 is likely going to be too little, too late. It certainly was in this game.

Pros: Early Offense

The offense seemed to come to play in the first period for the Blues. They had 10 shots on goal, compared to six given up, and scored two goals.

The first goal proved, again, why you need to get to the dirty areas and also just send pucks on net. The initial shot from the point was blocked, but Brayden Schenn was in the right spot just off to the side/front of the crease.

It did not take a lot of skill, but it was a good goal, especially to get the game started. It gave the Blues some momentum they could hang onto for most of the rest of the period.

The second one was very similar. Another shot from the point came in and Zach Sanford was in the right spot.

Sanford was able to get a nice deflection from only a few feet in front of the goal. There was a defender right on him, so the ability to get just the right touch on the puck was good to see.

The Blues had some opportunities from some of their other top offensive players as well and were just not rewarded. Still, going into the break up by a score of 2-0 should be something that is positive and something you can hold on to.

Cons: The Power Play

The St. Louis Blues power play cost them this game. We can look at individuals and point the finger – we will do that later – but the Blues lack of a quality power play lost this game, flat out.

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They had five chances to score a goal on the power play and failed to do so. In fact, the offense was so paltry, they only managed five total shots on the man-advantage. That is an average of one shot per power play and there were some that did not have shots taken.

The problem is not just a lack of shots, but a lack of chances. Even when the Blues actually took shots, they rarely managed to trouble the goaltender.

If St. Louis scores even one goal out of the five chances they had, you have a tie game, a point and a chance to turn things around in overtime. Instead, they press hard in the third and come up just short.

You need your power play to help you in situations like these. If a team is going to be foolish enough to put themselves in the box that many times, you have to make them pay. End of story.

The only reason the Blues’ overall power play percentage is not lower is because it was so inflated at the start of the year. If they were not third in the league earlier in 2018-19, we could see how poor they have been of late.

Also, why they continue to use Vladimir Tarasenko on the point is beyond me. He is a good passer, but not enough to be the quarterback of that unit. His shot is not hard enough to be a consistent threat from that far out either. Despite that, he has played that far out under three coaches now. It cannot happen under a fourth, assuming there is another one next season.

It’s all just a mess right now.

Pros: Ryan O’Reilly

Ryan O’Reilly continues to be one of the few bright spots in the 2018-19 season. He had a solid overall game and also scored a goal.

O’Reilly’s goal was much like his game. It was not the prettiest, but it was built on effort and determination. He got to the hard areas of the ice and banked one in off the goaltender.

He had a rare off day in the faceoff dot and still managed to win 46% of his faceoffs.

The team is also showing their confidence in him with his ice time. O’Reilly was on the ice for over 22 minutes, which is normally reserved for defensemen. He is rewarding them with his play too.

We are getting to the point where we expect the kind of result O’Reilly provided late in the game. Despite the fact this season has been so poor, it feels like he can be the hero the team needs on most nights even if it does not come to fruition.

He continues to lead both statistically and with the team. I, for one, think who wears the C is overrated. However, if more people followed O’Reilly’s example, this team would be so better off.

Cons: Jake Allen

As a person that takes things as they are, that is why I blame the power play for the loss. You allowed four goals and had an opportunity to score more than the three you had.

That said, even as his biggest defender, this game also rests on the shoulders of Jake Allen. As much as I feel he is good enough for this team to win, despite what the uneducated say, he was part of the problem in this game.

The key phrase is in this game. Everyone wants to use individual examples and say he’s always bad. But when he’s good, there are so many other things that fans turn to.

That is what is so frustrating when Allen does have a bad performance. It’s not the same as Jaden Schwartz having a bad game or another forward. When Allen has a bad game, it’s always proof that what all the haters have been saying was true all along and everyone needs to see the light about how horrid he is.

He had a bad night. That is it. It happens to a lot of goalies, even the best around the league.

The first goal was difficult but one Allen needed to save. The defense could have done much better since they allowed a player all alone right in the deep slot. Even so, Allen got a piece of it and needed to bail the team out.

The second goal was one he needed to stop too. It went off the blocker on the short side, which is something goaltenders typically have covered.

But, it just saps the energy out of the team and those of us that support Allen. Instead of just being a bad night, everyone else will use it as fuel to their fire.

Overview

The Blues just take everything out you. Even when you think they are close to doing something positive, they just slam on the breaks.

Going into the game, the Blues were back within two games of .500. Instead of getting another step closer to being able to look beyond the horizon, the Blues took another giant step back.

Their power play is just atrocious. Allen seemed to show signs he is wearing down given the amount of consecutive games he has played in and allowing four goals on 14 shots.

The team also seemed to return to the days where one bad thing just crumbles the entire team and they give up.

It is easy to keep saying that this is just who they are and we should expect the ups and downs. However, when you know this is not a bad team and they are capable of so much more, the downs are that much more hard to take.