St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 1 Vs. Washington

The St. Louis had a lot of emotion running through the building as they opened up their first ever Stanley Cup defense. Getting back to normal might have been the hardest part.

Coming into the start of the 2019-20 season, we knew getting over the first Stanley Cup ever in St. Louis and the first for many of the players was going to be tough. They had to find a way to buckle down and get right back into the saddle.

It seemed as though the Blues had done just that. They scored the first goal of the contest in less than a minute.

It would not be long after that for the Blues to double their lead. However, as the night wore on, the Blues wore out.

On the plus side, it did not seem as though the Blues were gassed, but more emotionally spent. It did not feel as though this would be a continuing problem, but more an isolated incident.

Nevertheless, the Blues would not win on their first time out in defense of their championship. They fell to the Washington Capitals by the score of 3-2 in overtime.

It was a solid point, a good point, but left a lot of room for improvement. We saw some good things and a good many things that will have to be polished as the season wears on.

It was not the best way to start, but it is a long season. It was still good to get back to the game we all love and the team we hold dear.

Pros: Early goal

We saw this throughout the playoffs in 2019 and definitely during the Stanley Cup Finals. When the Blues were at their best, they were scoring early.

That is exactly what happened to kick off the 2019-20 campaign. It only took 53 seconds for St. Louis to get on the board, which was almost as good as what they accomplished during some of their previous playoff games.

What was even better was the continuation of what we saw during the good parts of the 2018-19 regular season and also the playoffs. Despite a line that might not be how you would draw it up on paper, the team’s second line got a good jump and some early chemistry.

All three forwards touched the puck on the first goal. It was crisp, neat passing from Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron to find Sammy Blais. Then, it was clinical finishing for Blais to chip it over the goaltender’s left pad.

If the way that line looked early was an indication how they will work during the year, this team is set up for good things.

Cons: Scrambling

As well as the Blues played during the start of the game, once Washington got their feet underneath them, the Blues shrank from the occasion a little. It started in the last few minutes of the first period and continued through the second.

The Blues could be given the benefit of the doubt at the end of the first period. There was so much emotion after the banner raising and all the pregame hoopla, you knew it would fade after awhile.

However, other than the first 90 seconds of the second period, there was absolutely no rebound by St. Louis until the last 90 seconds of the period (ok, 1:45). They were on their heels and tripping over themselves, literally and figuratively.

Alex Ovechkin is one of the best in the game and perhaps of all time. So, his first goal was a thing of pure talent.

However, the Blues were also allowing him too much space later on in the contest. They made some good blocks *coughRobertBortuzzocough* but needed to be a little more positionally aware of where he was.

It is difficult to guard the Capitals on the power play since they have so many dynamic players, but it was just odd to watch the Blues litterally scramble so much. Things picked up a little in the third period, but there was still something off about the team.

They just looked disjointed throughout the second period and at other portions of the game. Even if the Capitals did not tie things up in that period, it just was a departure from the good things they did to start the game and a bad reminder of what was going wrong early in 2018-19.

Pros: Power play

If we are going to talk about good things, you can’t not mention the power play. It is a long season and there was nowhere to go but up with how the team looked on special teams in the 2019 playoffs, but it was a good start.

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The Blues got some good zone entries on their first time with the man advantage. The second unit, which was out first, looked solid but still new to one another.

The first line looked very good on their first trip out there. You can hardly argue with the results since Alex Pietrangelo scored and Justin Faulk picked up his very first point with the St. Louis Blues.

The second time out, the result was not quite as good. The Blues did not have much pressure in the final minute of that two minute advantage, but overall they still looked improved.

Pros: Bortuzzo on the penalty kill

Normally you don’t see Robert Bortuzzo in these articles. That is no knock against him, but it just is not normal for him to be noticed that much one way or the other.

That said, the Blues stayed in the game as long as they did because of Bortz. He was solid defensively in all aspects, especially on special teams.

Bortuzzo was tasked with the unenviable job of shadowing Ovechkin as much as possible when the Blues were on the penalty kill. Bortuzzo did an outstanding job.

As of the end of the game, the Blues were credited with 12 blocked shots (that may change overnight). Regardless, half of those likely belonged to Bortuzzo – definitely four, if not more.

Bortuzzo was taking a playoff mentality in stopping one of the harder shots in the game. He slid, he knelt, he stuck out his leg, he did just about whatever it took in an attempt to deny Ovechkin a power play goal and he was successful in doing so.

You don’t often see that kind of dedication during the regular season, much less game number one of 82. From a fan viewpoint, that gets you pumped up.

Overview

It is disappointing to lose any game during the season, especially when there was so much positivity and emotion surrounding it.

The Blues came out just like you would hope, even if I did not personally expect the best part of the game to come at the start. More often than not, teams come out sluggish after those pregame ceremonies, so it was nice to see the team come out hot.

However, as the emotion fades, so did the Blues. We started to see some of the things we feared going in.

The Blues looked tired after an incredibly short offseason. Without the emotion to drive them the entire way, the legs just were not there and they got outhustled for much of the last two thirds of the game.

You are going to lose games throughout the year, but it was a little disheartening to see them allow three unanswered goals. Washington is a tough team and may well get back to the finals this year, but they were not outmaching the Blues in all aspects.

Washington played very well, but the game was there for the taking on St. Louis’ part and they did not get it done.

A point is a point and that extra point might come in handy later on. Still, it stings to lose your first game of the year.

The Blues can see it both ways. They were lucky to get a point at all since Washington was breathing down their necks the entire second period and a good amount of the third. They were unlucky too, because an inch to the right and Faulk wins the game for St. Louis in regulation.

Those are the breaks of the game. The Stanley Cup ride is now over for the players and it is back to work on Saturday with a tough and hungry Dallas team coming to town.