St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 44 Vs. Washington

The St. Louis Blues continue to prove themselves as road warriors. This time they defeated the defending champions for the second time in about 10 days.

The St. Louis Blues have proven themselves to be consistent in one way. All season long, they had failed to win a third game in a row. Time after time, the streak stopped after two and the two game streaks were few and far between.

So, there was no reason to think the Blues would defeat the Washington Capitals in the nation’s capital. It looked like it might be one of those nights again when the Capitals scored first.

The Blues put the Caps on the power play and Alex Ovechkin made them pay. While we have seen him score that scorcher time after time, you just knew that social media would be ablaze about how foolish it was to start Jake Allen instead of how hard the shot was.

Fortunately, we did not get the same old Blues that we saw for 41 games in the first half of 2018-19. The Blues held serve the rest of the first and came out on fire in the second.

St. Louis would rattle off three unanswered goals in the second, reversing a disturbing trend of being rather poor in the middle frame. Even better, the goals all came within five minutes of the other.

The Blues managed to clamp down on the Capitals offense in the third as well. Allen turned aside all nine Caps shots in the final period and Vladimir Tarasenko added an insurance goal on the power play as well.

The win gave the team their first three-game win streak of 2018-19. They won’t have much time to enjoy it, having to play tomorrow night.

Pros: The Blues Second Period

The St. Louis Blues have a history of collapsing in the second period. Even when they were at their best a couple years ago, it seemed that middle frame was always their undoing.

So, it was fantastic to see them actually dominate the second period against a superior team. The Blues came out with their foot on the gas and never let it off.

It was a complete effort by all four lines, the defenseman and the goaltender as well. Proving that, you got scoring from the forwards and defense.

Ivan Barbashev opened the scoring for the Blues. He won a board battle in behind the net and then, somehow, stuffed one in on the short side.

The puck luck continued for St. Louis on their second goal. Vince Dunn joined the attack, his shot was deflected by a Cap and then went in off the defender in front.

The last one was a thing of beauty. Dunn hit a gorgeous pass to David Perron. Seemingly out of room, Perron managed to roof the puck just over the pad.

The Blues played well in the first and good in the third. It was won in that second period though.

Cons: Vladimir Tarasenko’s Second Period

Vladimir Tarasenko got a great goal in the final period, but we will get to that. His second period left a lot to be desired though.

Tarasenko showed a lot of what people criticize him for in that middle period. It was not just the period, in and of itself, but the reversal of how well he has played in recent games.

Tarasenko was not bad. We have seen much more lackadaisical play out of 91. Even so, it was a departure.

His passing was not that great in the second period. There were several breakouts or zone entries that did not work because he was leading his teammate just a bit.

His backchecking was not nearly where it had been either. Tarasenko had been one of the harder workers the last few games and it seemed like he resumed his coasting in the middle.

The offense was not quite on point either. Tarasenko got some shots, but it just did not get the job done.

Again, it was not a terrible period. By no means was it his worst period of the season. Compared to how well he had been playing, in all facets, it was just a little disappointing.

Pros: The Blues Fourth Goal

In terms of a pretty goal, there is almost nothing that will beat Perron’s goal from this game. In terms of effort all around, Tarasenko’s goal in the third takes the cake.

Some will discount it since it was the fourth goal in a game you won by three. You have to look at everything that happened though.

It all started with a shot from the point from Alex Pietrangelo. The maligned captain has regained much of his form and got this one through whereas so many had been blocked earlier in the season.

That’s where Ryan O’Reilly took over. O’Reilly jammed feverishly at the rebound. Even after not being successful, he just kept pushing.

It looked like O’Reilly was hooked and held and he just kept going for the puck. Then, to find Tarasenko with the pass was almost as impressive.

Tarasenko’s goal seemed implausible given the angle and watching it live, it seemed as though it was going over the goal. Instead, Tarasenko scored his 15th of the season and third in two games.

Also, unnoticed was the contribution of Oskar Sundqvist. Sundqvist tied up and got the full attention of Brooks Orpik. This meant Orpik could not come across the crease to help attempt a block.

It might have been a meaningless goal in the scheme of the game, but in the grand scheme it was huge. Tarasenko keeps up his streak, we learn again how much of a beast O’Reilly can be and the efforts of all involved meant a great deal to the score. It was a fine example of how guys are finally stepping up on this team.

Overview

This was another great team win for the Blues. Everyone played their part again.

Allen had his part to play, but was not solely responsible for the outcome, which is what you want regardless of which side of the goaltending isle you fall on for this team. Allen made some good saves, the defense finally played in front of him and made hard-nosed, defensive effort plays and the team got goals.

It was a 19-man effort. You saw good plays, even if they seemed insignificant at the time, made up and down the lineup.

The Blues won faceoffs and important faceoffs. They threw checks and blocked shots. They dove to keep pucks out when earlier in the year, they would have just watched it float over their goaltender and in after he made a diving effort on the poke.

This was not just the third win in a row during a streak. It was another example of how this team seems to finally enjoy playing with one another.

Who knows how long it will last. Maybe it all comes crashing back down tomorrow against the Islanders.

Regardless, this is what we have all been dying to see. Nobody likes all their co-workers and you do not expect them all to be best friends.

However, you all still strive for the same goal. For whatever reason, the Blues were not doing that in the first half of the season. Three games into the second half, it seems as though the Blues have finally got it. It is up to them how far that can last.