The St. Louis Blues entered Dallas with plenty of momentum on their side. However, being undermanned made things far more difficult against the Stars.
The St. Louis Blues might have won a franchise-record 11 games going into Dallas against the Stars. However, fate planned to make things harder by robbing them of one top line player.
The latest in a number of players that never left the previous game early yet came up with a mysterious injury was Brayden Schenn. Taken out of the lineup with an upper body injury, the Blues were forced to shuffle their lineup.
Robert Thomas ascended to the second line, while Jaden Schwartz joined the top trio. The bottom six had their own shuffling, while Robby Fabbri finally cracked the lineup again.
Things started well for the Blues as they had a fantastic first handful of minutes. Once Dallas got their feet under them, the game evened out and the Blues showed a few cracks.
The Blues stayed ahead in the shot category for quite awhile, but they seemed to manage nothing more than scrambles. One broken play and some good passing was all it needed for the Stars to strike first, which was something that had not happened in almost any of the games the Blues had won of late.
Cons: Second Period Luck
For all their hard work, the Blues seemed to be cursed in the second period. They were battling and doing many things right, but nothing went right.
The Blues would attack as though they were storming the castle gate, with some good ferocity. Unfortunately, they were repelled each time and as suddenly as a snake strikes, the Stars would put it in the back of the net.
Now, Jordan Binnington knows what Jake Allen went through. That is not meant as a shot at him or those who support him, but more a realization.
There were so many goals that Allen could do nothing about, but went in anyway and Allen took all the blame. This time, it happened to Binnington.
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When all was said and done after two periods, the Blues found themselves with four goals against them. This was so sudden, despite the relative spread out nature of the goals, it was hard to know what to make of it.
Making matters worse, that thing known as Jamie Benn scored two of the goals. I think it may have been years since a player’s face has made me as angry as his.
While the Blues were careless with the puck at times in this period, the goals were ultimately somewhat fortunate. It was an impossible angle that scored the first. The second was a deflected puck that came right to the man in front.
The third was a screen that popped up and over almost out of nowhere. Then, Benn deflected in the fourth.
Credit to the Stars for their play, but it was not pure skill alone that won.
Pros: The Dynamic Duo
While the Blues defense and bad luck managed to give up four second period goals, their top line did their very best to see the team was not completely out of the game. They scored two goals by the time 40 minutes had elapsed, giving them some hope in the third.
What was impressive was the fact that these were gritty, workmanlike goals. Though they were scored by the two most talented players, they were diving around and getting to the dirty areas of the ice.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored from the top of the crease. While it was essentially a tap-in, it was not at all easy. He had to drive the net and have his stick in the right spot to score on a hard pass from the corner.
Equally impressive was the work Ryan O’Reilly did for his goal. Denied on the doorstep, he continued to battle along the endline, seemingly crawling over opponents to get to the puck.
He finally scored by swatting at the puck to get it past a sprawling goaltender. Not the stuff of highlights, but just as useful in dire times.
The Blues fought hard and their top players got their rewards. Unfortunately, it would not be enough for the first time in some time. That is not the fault of this duo as they kept on until the end.
Overview
This was such a strange game, in the overall sense. If you wonder why there are not more pros and cons, it’s mainly because there was not too much that went wrong or right in the grand scheme of things.
The Blues did not play poorly by any means, but they were not on top of their game to the pinpoint accuracy they had been. That was what cost them, ultimately.
Dallas was good and had the better puck luck. The Blues had good goaltending, but it was not great enough to save them as it had been.
So, what to make of all this? Really, it depends on the team going forward.
If the Blues are as good as they have been the last 11 games, this will be nothing more than a blip. They will rest up, hit the reset button and strike back in the next one.
If the last 11 games were nothing more than a beautiful mirage, they will fade into the desert with the rest of the hopefuls.
I do not believe the Blues are as dominant as they seemed at the peak of their streak, but, with this loss, they showed they are not as bad as they were either.
If the Blues were just a bit sharper and got a few bounces – I’m thinking about that gaping net that Pat Maroon failed to score in because the blasted puck would not settle down – they get their 12th win. Instead, we are talking about a loss instead.
The Blues will rebound. The key is to do it soon and not let this work its way into a losing streak in any form.