The St. Louis Blues officially hit their halfway point of the 2018-19 season. Unsurprisingly, it went about the way you would expect.
The 2018-19 season has been crazy, to say the least for the St. Louis Blues. As they hit the halfway point of their season, it was the very first time they played against the Dallas Stars.
The Blues came out well at the very beginning of the game. They were driving to the net and generating some buzz and some penalties.
St. Louis had the first two power plays of the game, the first three shots of the game and four shots on goal on their two power plays. Nothing came of it and it all unraveled after that.
The Blues got outshot 10-1 after those initial three shots. While their power plays were not bad, they continued to miss the net and have shots blocked. They tried to get too cute and pass too often.
Once they failed to generate any quality chance, the Stars took over. They took a 1-0 lead after one and doubled it up quickly in the second.
The first goal, the Blues defense managed to allow Tyler Seguin to be all alone in the slot. The second one was the result of poor decision making that led to a five-on-three power play for the Stars.
Dallas took a 3-0 lead on a bad goal by Jake Allen. It looked like all was lost, but the Blues showed a rare bit of fight after that.
Following the emotional salute to a World War II veteran, the Blues actually grabbed the game by the throat, even if only briefly.
St. Louis actually generated a lot of sustained pressure. They were rewarded for that with a backhanded goal by David Perron.
Cons: Missed Shots
The St. Louis Blues have one of the best offenses in the league (on paper). As we have seen, that does not translate onto the ice.
Halfway through the season, your goal leaders are not even that close to the 20 goal mark. One of the biggest reasons is they can’t hit the blasted net to save their life.
When they are not 100% on point, this team seems to either fire the puck right into the goaltender’s chest or miss the goal entirely
42.1% of their chances were on goal in the game against Dallas. That means that 57.9% of their attempts were either blocked or missed and many of them were flat-out missed.
They had 64 attempts. Only 27 ended up as shots and only about half of those were quality chances and Bishop was up to the task.
Perron missed a wide open net over the goal midway through the third. Ben Bishop did get a small piece of it, but that simply has to go in the net.
Brayden Schenn missed wide in the slot. That was a spot where you have to make the goaltender make the save, with no defender in front and Schenn flipped it wide somehow.
We can blame goaltending, and there was plenty to place on the netminder in this one, but when your offense cannot even hit the net, you are not going to win.
Pros/Cons: Jake Allen
We’ve reached the point, though we’ve been there for a long time really, where this goaltending discussion is beyond ridiculous. All it does is split Blues fans down the middle and make us actually root against our own players.
We saw the best and worst of Allen in this game. He gave ammunition to his supporters and definitely to his detractors.
There was nothing he could do about the first game. The second goal, there was a screen but it was a saveable shot. It is not nearly as easy as the armchair goalies make it seem, but there’s no point arguing it.
It was the third goal that was the one that let the air out. Allen, himself, was extremely frustrated and broke his stick after the puck somehow snuck between the post and his arm.
However, after that, Allen bounced back and was one of the Blues better players. He made several spectacular saves, including a kick save off the goal line. His haters will say he created that situation in the first place and they are right, but the bottom line is he kept the puck out.
There was a flashy glove save moments after that. Then, there was a diving kick save on a cross-ice pass/shot that would surely have gone in if Allen was as bad as so many make out.
Ultimately, the argument is futile. That third goal was energy sapping, for sure, but with the Blues only scoring one goal, it was just another example of the way this season has gone down the tubes.
Pros: David Perron
The frenchie, David Perron has been such a mixed bag in his latest return to St. Louis. It seems like hyperbole, but it honestly seems like all he does is scored goals or take offensive zone penalties.
In this game, he was fortunate enough to score the goal. It was a solid goal, once again showcasing Perron’s stickhandling ability.
He was not dangling the puck left and right, but showing how strong he can be on the puck even with his lack of size. He muscled his way around the net and fired the backhander from the slot.
If fans are fair, they would argue that is a save that Ben Bishop would normally have, but in this case it went just under his blocker and off the post.
What it was was another example of the offense Perron can provide. He set a new career mark for point streaks, notching a point in his eighth straight game.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late. The team could not generate enough offense outside of that goal and Perron’s new mark will just go by the wayside.
Overview
This game was an encapsulation for the 2018-19 season. In a normal season where all is right with the world, the same result gets a shrug and a few grumbles.
With the season collapsing almost from the start, this one just shows how poor this team is all around. Allen did not cost the game as much as everyone will claim, due to the lack of offense, but his bad goal was another energy sapper that put a team with no rebound ability further behind the eight ball.
The Blues continued to show they have no ability to come back too. They are now 1-17-2 when trailing after two periods. Most teams are under .500 when trailing after 40 minutes, but to only have one win is unacceptable.
St. Louis’ inability to get off the walls at key times in these types of games is also unacceptable. This team should have too much talent, regardless of chemistry and the contractor mentality. You have to be tough and get away from the pressure and the Blues seem to play right into the defense’s hands.
So, in the end, you blame who you want. It does not matter any more. Replace any one person on this team and they won’t be any better, whether that’s a scorer, goaltender or captain. This current mix is just too combustible among themselves and doesn’t have enough fire for their opponents.