St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 46 Vs. Boston

The St. Louis Blues tossed aside another prime opportunity to get back into the real playoff race with their loss in Boston. They played one of their sloppiest games of the season to end their east-coast road trip.

The St. Louis Blues just can’t seem to have nice things. Just when you think they are going to rattle off a few wins, they just kind of peter out.

Instead of ending the road trip on a high note, they hit about as flat, sour, cringeworthy a note as you could see. The odd thing was they have played far worse as a unit this season. However, it was a return to the sloppy, undisciplined play we saw earlier in the year.

The passing was the main issue for the Blues. Their first period was just awful, the second was quite a bit better but the offense was not quite there and then the third just sort of stagnated.

At the end of the game it left fans with an odd, empty feeling. You can say they did not play terribly and you would be right. However, unlike the loss to the New York Islanders, there were no moral victories.

The Blues could not even muster a point out of this contest. Though they outplayed Boston for stretches, they have no result to show for it.

The score of 5-2 was not indicative of how the game actually played out. Even so, a loss is a loss when you cannot afford losses.

Cons: Jaden Schwartz

Let’s get this one out of the way early on. If we are going to regularly blame goaltenders for “costing” us the game, then you have to spread that around sometimes.

With that in mind, Jaden Schwartz basically cost the St. Louis Blues the game. Is that harsh? Perhaps, but there is no denying that his blunder was game-changing.

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Schwartz’ struggles are actually not well documented. He is one of those players that seems to get the protection of the fans simply because he “plays hard”.

That was exactly the case in this game. We got the usual hard played game out of Schwartz and nothing else.

He fits in very well with his linemates and does all the little things well. However, his talent seems wasted at the moment since he is not producing goals.

Then, his turnover on a two-on-one break was almost unforgivable. Due to his struggles and the fact Vladimir Tarasenko was on the other side of the ice, you could almost understand the decision to pass – almost.

However, the problem is he had no situation awareness in that scenario. He was going up against the tallest player in the NHL, with potentially the longest reach. With that in mind, why in the world would you try a weak behind-the-back pass across the slot that was actually well guarded.

Schwartz needed to shoot the puck when that was the better option. If nothing else, shoot the puck off the far pad and hope Tarasenko can get the rebound.

Instead, Schwartz turned the puck over and the ensuing run of play ended in a Boston goal. That falls on Schwartz’ shoulders.

Pros: Brayden Schenn

It seems odd to have two guys from the same line as some of the best and worst from this game. It is hard not to give credit to Brayden Schenn though.

Schenn was just all over the ice. He seemed to do a little bit of everything.

Schenn helped set up the go-ahead goal when the Blues took a 2-1 lead. He got the second assist, but his effort to keep the puck in was very large.

Schenn was also at his most physical this season. He led the Blues in hits with seven body checks officially thrown and several more thrown in with shoves and board rubs.

It was the kind of game that reminds you what Schenn brings to the table. It was the kind of game that makes you hope he can remain with the Blues, even though he is still the likeliest to be traded, mainly due to the simplicity of his contract.

Schenn was solid defensively too. He had two takeaways and played a solid game overall, which has been one of the criticisms against him at times.

His main detraction was that he was only 38% in the faceoff circle.

Cons: The Passing

The Blues passing ability has been extremely up and down all season. It might have hit a fresh low against the Bruins.

The only reason you might not say a new low is there have been games when the passing was worse in every way. In the past it was weak and off target. In this game, the mustard was there but not the proper direction or rink awareness.

The Blues had 11 turnovers in the first period alone. That is too many for an entire game on some nights. The Blues managed to have that many in one section of 20 minutes.

Even worse, the Blues had 25 giveaways overall. We have seen plenty of games where the official totals are not even close to what everyone saw. That could be the case here too, but even if not, you simply cannot give the puck away 25 times.

What is worse was the timing and placement on the ice of these turnovers. Several were right at the team’s own blue line. The old saying is there is about a three foot window around both blue lines that is the absolute worst to turn pucks over in.

Basically, the idea is that your teammates are going full speed to get out and suddenly the play is going the other direction.

Jordan Kyrou did that twice in the first period alone. He was not alone either.

Robert Bortuzzo gave the puck up with an odd centering pass in his own zone. Oskar Sundqvist‘s backhand pass in the third period was literally right to a Boston player that led to a high-end scoring chance.

Who knows if the Blues win if they clean all that up. Boston was pretty lucky on some of their plays.

Regardless, it is pretty hard to win when you are constantly giving the puck to your opponent.

Overview

This game stings a little more than most losses because it was there for the taking. As poorly as the Blues played for the overall game, the game was there to win.

St. Louis had a 2-1 lead and deserved to be in that lead. It was their own fault they ended up losing.

Boston was pretty lucky too. It was a boneheaded play by one of St. Louis’ better forwards that led to a breakaway. David Backes’ goal was pure luck too. Jay Bouwmeester actually did the right thing by clearing out the front of the net and Backes’ stick managed to fall into the perfect spot to deflect the puck in. That’s nothing but luck.

But, those things happen. You are not always at your best. Sometimes the other team has a little more luck. If the opportunity to win is still there, you have to find a way to do it.

Yes, to the eye test, the Blues are much improved over what we have seen. If you still lose the game, it does not matter.

St. Louis has been getting better goaltending and the defense is improved. Scoring is still streaky, but better too. All that is for nothing if you do not win.

If the Blues expect to make the playoffs, you have to string together a lot of wins given how poorly the first half of the season went.

2-1-1 is a respectable record for a road trip, but the Blues could and perhaps should have won them all. The fact they did not takes away any warm and fuzzy feelings.