St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 47 Vs. Ottawa

The St. Louis Blues are in a situation where how pretty it is does not matter. They took that to the extreme in their win over the Ottawa Senators.

The St. Louis Blues have been consistent in one phase of the game. They have constantly played up or down to the level of their opponent, regardless of of the end result of the contest.

That was the case as the Blues played the Ottawa Senators. The Senators came in with the worst record in the NHL, mainly due to their high loss count.

They only had one fewer win than the Blues. For good stretches of the game, you could tell these were not playoff teams.

That is not to say the game did not have entertaining points. The Blues won, which is always fun for fans to see.

However, the Blues peppered the net and only got three to hit the back of the net. They were a little lax on the defensive side too and got forced to pay the piper.

The Blues are probably the better team, but we rarely got that feeling. The Senators could have easily won this game had a few things gone their way.

In the end, they did not, but you would just like to have seen a little more.

Cons: Another Slow Start

The Blues have done one other thing rather consistently. They almost always seem to come out of the gates slowly at home.

By no means did the Blues have a bad start to the game. They came out and played alright, but that is the problem – they were just alright.

More from Analysis

• St. Louis Blues and Cardinals Similar In All The Wrong Ways
• St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 82 At Dallas
• St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 81 Vs Dallas
• St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 80 At Minnesota
• St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 79 Vs NY Rangers

Against a young team that his struggling, you should be able to come out and snuff out all hope right away. Show them they are the team that has plenty left to learn.

Instead, the Blues just kind of went about their business in a rather casual manner. Thus, with their fathers in the building to impress, the Senators came out and got the first blood.

It must be said that you would like Jordan Binnington to be able to make the save on that first goal, but it was not really his fault. The shot came from in tight and he was just not able to get his pads down quick enough to seal up the five-hole.

It was also another case of leaving a man alone in the slot. There was a defender in the vicinity, but the defending was just not good enough.

Thankfully that goal woke the Blues up and they strapped on their work boots following. It was not long before they got the equalizer. Still, you would just like to see them grab the game by the scruff right from the start.

Pros: Vladimir Tarasenko

Like his team, Vladimir Tarasenko did not have his absolute best game in this contest. Nevertheless, he was one of the team’s best players and that is what you need from your best players.

Tarasenko unleashed his patented wrister to score the goal that tied things up 1-1. Say what you will about his consistency, but nobody does it better when he’s on.

The goal was set up by the hard work off the faceoff by Ryan O’Reilly. But Tarasenko still had work to do.

He had to drag the puck around the defender and then pull it back toward his feet. While that would seem to make it more difficult, it actually allowed him to ramp the puck up even more.

Nobody ever definitively figured if he ramped the puck off the defender’s stick or just under his own power, but it does not matter.

Tarasenko was buzzing offensively. He made a nice move and solid pass toward O’Reilly around the 13 minute mark of the second period. It forced a good defensive play to thwart what might have been a goal.

Tarasenko now has four goals in his last five games. The Blues need him to keep this up and not just be his usual hot streak.

Cons: Magnus Paajarvi Scoring

There was just so much wrong with Magnus Paajarvi scoring.

Unlike so many Blues fans, I never had much wrong with Paajarvi. He was just not what the Blues needed in return for giving up David Perron back in the day.

He was never a bad player, but you could not count on much from him. After a great rookie year with Edmonton, he never managed double-digit goals again. So, you did not expect him to score.

He also joined a long list of players that managed to come back to haunt the Blues. Not everyone owned St. Louis after they left like CuJo, but there have been so many that seem to come up with the big play some how. Paajarvi did just that by tying up the game.

On top of everything, it was a shorthanded goal. There was some fortune to it, but the Blues just fell asleep.

The way everything materialized, you would almost think Ottawa was on the power play. Basically, the goal was a two-on-one, backdoor set up.

The Senators iced the puck, won the battle to get to the ricocheted puck and then tossed it across the crease for Paajarvi. All he had to do was knock it in the empty net.

So, a former player scores a shorthanded goal against that ties up the game and saps all the momentum from the Blues. Yep. Definitely a con.

Pros: The Unsung Heroes

This game was won, both literally and figuratively, by the guys that don’t always get the most praise.

Pat Maroon falls into this category. He has had a rough go of it in this return to his hometown. However, he keeps trying to shrug off that disappointment. Maroon looked much better in this game and seemed rejuvenated to be playing with the top line.

While Maroon won’t win many pure footraces, he played a lot faster in this game. He was sharp on the puck and played with that edge the Blues expected from him.

Maroon was tied for the team lead with four hits. He also got an assist on the game-winning goal.

Speaking of the game winner, we cannot forget about Carl Gunnarsson. The often forgotten defenseman picked up his second goal of the season and second in as many games.

Gunnarsson is mainly a defense first guy, so he is not always joining the rush. Still, he is an intelligent player that knows when to pitch in.

After Maroon and O’Reilly kept the play alive after a scramble, they managed to find Gunnarsson in front. He capitalized on the space afforded to him and banged one home.

Overview

This was not the prettiest win you will ever see. In fact, it got pretty sloppy at times.

That said, there were plenty of good things to come from this game.

First and foremost, you got the victory. Secondly, you escaped the game with your health in tact.

Tarasenko went shoulder first into the boards and Jaden Schwartz took a knee-on-knee hit. St. Louis does not have luck with guys needing to miss time during the next game, but at least for now, they stayed in and finished the game.

St. Louis was good enough to get the lead in the second period, which is almost essential. The Blues have 21 wins so far this year and 18 of them have come when they had the lead after two periods.

Also, the Blues won a gritty contest. Yes, when you feel Ottawa is a team in shambles on paper, you would like the Blues to go out an assert dominance. This is not college football though.

The Blues battled through their lulls and overcame a team with plenty to play for as far as pride goes. St. Louis got the job done by the time the final horn went and the fans saw an entertaining game overall.