The St. Louis Blues continued to show how far they have come in a short time. They defeated the best team in the NHL in a gitty, grind it out kind of game.
The St. Louis Blues might need to put the fathers of the players on the payroll. They continue to pay dividends for this franchise.
While the Blues might not have originated the idea, it has surely worked well for them. The Blues are now 7-1 all time when the dads are up in the stands as a group.
If only we could bottle that magic. The Blues could surely have used it earlier in the season, but it is better to peak late than not at all.
St. Louis continues to show how much they have learned and progressed with these sorts of games. While it might be an overstatement, the Blues would, honestly, have had no business taking the same ice as the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the year.
While we are still gun-shy to say they have found themselves, this is a different team. The way the Blues have played recently, you were cautiously optimistic they could hang with the team with the NHL’s best record.
Not only did they hang, but they won. And it was not some fluke victory. The Blues grinded this one all the way down to the hilt and scored a deserved goal.
In fact, the Blues held the majority of the play. It was only a high caliber goaltending performance that kept them from winning in regulation.
This streak won’t last forever and losses will come. However a win like this one, coupled with the team’s recent play, has us believing they might deserve to be a playoff team.
Cons: Too Many Nice Guys
It feels weird to jump to the overtime period right off the bat, but nothing drives me crazier than guys passing up opportunities.
The NHL overtime is a joke and nobody will convince me otherwise, but I get the idea of making the most of a chance since you are just as likely to turn the puck over than get a rebound. However, the Blues take things to another level.
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We saw it at a few times in the game, but the overtime period really shined a light on it. The Blues had several odd-man rushes in the extra period, including a three-on-one.
One, they actually did take the shot but Alex Pietrangelo managed to miss the net. On the others, the Blues passed their chances into oblivion.
Whether you love or hate Darren Pang, we can all agree that he almost always accentuates the positive. For him to say nobody wants to shoot the puck in those situations hits the nail on the head.
You have your current star, Vladimir Tarasenko, and your future one, Robert Thomas, and nobody gets a shot on goal? Nobody forces a save?
It actually ended up being funny how the Blues won with a weak shot given all the great chances they actually passed up.
Pros: Jordan Binnington
Speaking of funny, it is somewhat amusing and/or coincidental that the first time Jordan Binnington makes it into the Pros and Cons is during his weakest game from a fundamentals standpoint.
Early in the game, Binnington was making the saves but he looked off. The rebound control was not quite what we have come to expect and he just looked a little unsure of himself.
Joey Vitale, the Blues radio analyst, said the same thing. He was making the saves, but just did not look overly confident in doing so.
Despite that, Binnington was a big reason the Blues won this game. He was not flashy or sprawling around, but he was athletic and well positioned.
His save late in the third period was definitely a game changer. It came at a point where any goal was likely to be the deciding factor and he did not shrink from the moment.
Cons: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Like Obi-wan Kenobi said, this one depends greatly on our own point of view. Tampa fans will be singing his praises and talking about how he is the main reason they got a point out of this game.
From a Blues fan perspective, it was maddening. As a goaltender, I could not help but take in the skill he utilized in this game, but you want your team to score.
The Blues outshot their opponent for the umpteenth time in a row (it is almost a team record) and you got the feeling they were going to lose. While you would tip your cap to any individual who can almost single-handedly take down an opponent, it always feels like these things happen to our team.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is not your average goaltender, where you’d be embarrassed to get shutout by. In fact, he is one of the current best in the league.
That said, it was and would have been frustrating to have the Blues play well and come up empty handed because he decided to rob them.
You almost empathize with him how the game-winning goal went in. We have seen it countless times with Blues goalies that they play their guts out and then a mediocre shot goes in.
However, it made the win that much more thrilling to finally beat him. He was stoning everything with the glove and just when you start yelling to try the blocker side, he starts turning away those shots too.
It was worth the wait, but it would have been nice to beat him a little earlier in the game.
Pros: Brayden Schenn
This goal was a reward for time put in for Brayden Schenn. He has been working his butt off lately and just not quite getting that cherry on top because of it.
Only Jaden Schwartz has had bigger struggles when it comes to finding the back of the net. Schenn still puts up points, of course, but coming off a career year in goals scored, nobody figured he would only have nine at this point in the year.
Schenn has put in the work. He’s been one of the few physical bright spots for this team and continued to throw his weight around a couple times in Tampa.
Schenn has picked up his defensive game as well. Probably one of his downfalls earlier in the year, he has solidified his positioning more and become much better at taking the puck away, picking up three steals against the Lightning.
Then, of course, you can’t discount his goal. No, it was not a ripper that hit the back of the net before you could blink, but it was a gigantic goal.
The Blues might not have needed this win, but the team needed it after playing so well throughout. A morale victory would not have been enough and Schenn took it upon himself to do something about it.
He showed his determination to get to the puck first and the wherewithal to actually take the shot instead of peeling off to wait for support. He got rewarded for it by the puck going in, even if it would have been saved nine times out of 10.
It was also a big goal for him. Schenn had not scored in 11 games, dating back to January 7 against Philly.
If he can pick up his scoring again, he will be an even bigger asset to the team’s top line.
Overview
As mentioned, this was not a game the Blues absolutely had to win. Despite their winning ways, it would have been no shame to drop a tight game to the best offense and best overall team in the NHL.
As the game went on, however, it just felt like it would have been more and more a punch to the gut if they could not win. They were taking the game to Tampa for long stretches and outside of the time on the penalty kill, spending a decent stretch in the offensive zone.
Outshooting a team, in and of itself, is not always an accomplishment. When your opponent can put up five goals on you in the blink of an eye, however, each shot taken is important.
The Blues played together, offensively and defensively. When there were cracks, their goaltender made a big stop. That is winning hockey and what has been missing for so long – a complete team effort, top to bottom.
Defenders defended, forwards showed skill and speed and tenacity and the goalie did not get in the way.
As I said in the last wrapup article, we do not know what this team can do. Even if they make the playoffs, they likely don’t have the depth to make a long run.
It is fun watching again though and that’s what we want. Yes, we all crave that final jubilation, but you can’t ask for much more in a game in February.