St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 43 Vs. Dallas

The St. Louis Blues got a bit of revenge against the Dallas Stars. For the second time in a row, the final was 3-1 with the Blues on top this time.

The St. Louis Blues seem to be settling into the second half of the 2018-19 season quite well so far. They have played two games since the midway point and have two convincing wins.

This time, they knocked off the Dallas Stars. While the city of St. Louis sat in the grips of a winter storm, the Blues were on fire and comfortable in Big D.

The Blues got things started with a Vladimir Tarasenko goal less than a minute into the game. They would double the lead in the first period with a Pat Maroon deflection.

The Blues and Stars fought to a standstill in the second period with no goals coming for either team. Then, the Stars finally solved the Jordan Binnington puzzle with a goal from the side of the net.

Unlike earlier in the season, the Blues did not fold. They regained the grasp of the game and regained their two goal lead with another Tarasenko score.

The entire team put the clamps down for the rest of the game. The Blues squeezed a little too hard trying to get Tarasenko a hat-trick on the empty net, but it never really allowed the Stars any extra attempts because of it.

The next game will be the real test as the Blues have yet to win three in a row this season. For now, it is nice to see the Blues playing entertaining hockey overall.

Pros: Vladimir Tarasenko

Can we please stop the trade Vladimir Tarasenko talk? I understand fans have been frustrated with his lack of scoring, but the entire team has been struggling. Getting rid of a 30-plus goal scorer would have been one of the dumbest things the Blues could have done.

That said, he is showing why the Blues need to keep him. After going six games without a point, Tarasenko now has three goals in his last five games and points in four of his last five.

On top of that, we are seeing vintage Vlady stuff. His goals are just what you expect from him.

The first one was a fantastic wrist shot over the blocker side shoulder from the right circle. Tarasenko is a free floater, but you would like to see him get more of those kinds of off-wing chances.

The second goal was an old-school Tarasenko goal. He got a great pass from David Perron on the left circle and with one, quick flick of the wrists, it was in over the short side corner.

Even better, Tarasenko continues to show his all-around game. There were several quality back-checking plays by Tarasenko, one of which stopped a break down the ice by the Stars.

You don’t always expect those kinds of plays from your best scorer. When you can get them, so much the better.

Tarasenko has always been streaky, but this team tends to play so much better when he’s in there and clicking.

Cons: Bottom Lines Ice Time

This is one of those things that is a bit nit-picky, but honestly, how many times did we even hear the names of the fourth line called out?

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If Ivan Barbashev did not play on the penalty kill and when Dallas had an extra attacker, the entire fourth line would have had fewer minutes than Jay Bouwmeester. That’s not a knock on Bouwmeester, either.

I understand that if your top lines are clicking, you want them out there as much as possible. There are also extenuating circumstances, such as special teams, icings and bad line changes that affect these things.

That said, if the TV broadcast did not go out of their way to mention Sammy Blais or Mackenzie MacEachern, I don’t think I would’ve known they stepped foot on the ice. I’m just slightly confused by the disparity.

If nothing else, this goes to show why we do not want Jordan Kyrou getting called up. He is not going to play higher up the roster, so it would be a waste to only give him the 6:52 that MacEachern got or the 6:54 that Blais saw.

I’m all for performance based playing time. However, I’ll never fully agree with the limiting time down the stretch. If you have confidence enough to put guys in the team, have confidence enough to put them out there.

Pros: Little Moments Adding Up

The way the 2018-19 season has gone, it is easy to get jaded and only pay attention to the stats and the wins and losses. You sometimes forget that the small moments in a game add up to big things.

While goals are always a big deal, most people will just shrug about Maroon’s goal. The local guy has not had the best of times since playing for his boyhood team, but this was a solid score and a much needed boost for him.

Maroon gets a lot of flack for his style, but that’s how he has always played the game at the NHL level. He’s never going to beat people in foot races, but his effort level has returned to where it needed to be.

Beyond just the goal, he has managed to start mixing it up again and getting in people’s grill. Just as important, it was nice to see him joking around on the bench with Robby Fabbri. I’m sure that stuff happens all the time, but with so many rumors making him seem almost ostracized, it is good to see him blending in with someone.

Also pleasant to see is the continued play of Oskar Sundqvist. He did not get on the goal sheet, but he’s still helping this team out immensely. He had two assists on the night and made several quality defensive plays. One such play was diving to break up a sure cross-ice goal. Sundqvist has really blossomed into a solid all-around player.

Last, but definitely not least is the defensive play. Binnington gets the credit, but this team has rebounded and become what they were supposed to be the entire season as a defensive group.

Alex Pietrangelo is looking more like the guy that we thought could win awards rather than the one that didn’t look like he belonged in the NHL. He made several diving plays and also got in a scrum, which is a far cry from being sat on, which happened the last time he was in Dallas.

The entire teams seems to be playing for one another, which is all we really wanted.

Overview

That last statement is probably the encapsulation of why the wins have felt so much better lately. We can continue to have pointless arguments about goaltending, but when the entire team plays as it has these last few wins, it makes you feel good as a fan.

Blues fans are a simple group and that is not a derogatory statement. When the team struggled in the mid-2000’s, a poll said they would rather have a team that worked hard every night than one that won a Cup but slacked off most the time. I’m not sure if that would be true today, but the overall idea still holds true.

We want guys that work hard and look like they want to play with each other. Everyone knows you’re not going to have 23 best friends on the ice, but don’t act like you can’t stand one another. Be professional and get your job done.

That’s what we have seen more in this latest incarnation of a possible turnaround. Guys are fighting more (not literally, sadly). They are making the right decisions and being in the right positions. These seem like simple things, but they are the things that go wrong first when you’re not in the right frame of mind/being.

As mentioned many times, we have no reason to think they’ll win in Washington. The way this season has gone, they will implode one more time and have to rebound the next game.

But, for a couple nights in a row we have been treated to fun hockey. It’s a baby step, but at least we no longer have to dread turning on the games.