St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 2 Vs. Dallas

The St. Louis Blues knew the start of their Stanley Cup defense season would be difficult. They began with the previous champion and transitioned to the Dallas Stars, the team that took them to the brink in a Game 7 overtime just months ago.

The St. Louis Blues have come to expect a gritty, old-school type of game when they play the Dallas Stars. After a contentious playoff series back in the spring, there was not much change to the style of play as the two teams met for the first time in the 2019-20 season.

The main difference was a few different players. For the Blues, they added Justin Faulk and for Dallas, they added a few new faces and also had some players healthy that were not during the playoffs.

Regardless of all that, the Blues got off to a good start. For the second game in a row, the Blues struck first.

Unfortunately, for the second game in a row, the Blues saw a lead evaporate. This time, it was a shorthanded goal that tied the game and then Dallas would take the lead in the second period.

It looked as though the Blues would go down by two goals, putting the Stars up 3-1. However, St. Louis challenged the play and got it back to 2-1, which made all the difference.

The Blues would rattle off two goals in the third period, taking a 3-2 lead. They made that hold up, though there were some nervy moments right up until the end.

Pros: Striking early again

One positive thing that has carried over from the 2019 playoffs to the 2019-20 season is the Blues ability to score early. After scoring just 53 seconds into their fist game, the Blues scored 1:21 into their second game.

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What is just as good as scoring early is doing it with skill. The Blues broke into the zone cleanly and Sammy Blais slipped a nice pass through the middle. David Perron wasted no time and just whipped it into the upper 90, giving the goaltender no chance.

It was a great setup on the play and a nice finish. What made the finish so great was Perron’s quick shot.

As much as we all like Perron, his decision making has not always been as great as one would like. He does not always take that shot right away and any kind of move or dangle allows Ben Bishop to get into position or a defender to get a stick in.

You had to snap that right away and he did. He got the goal because of it.

Cons: Shorthanded goal against

Listen, those that watched the game will know this goal was a fluke. Nine times out of 10, that goal does not go in.

If Jaden Schwartz just allows Jordan Binnington to cover it up, which he likely would have, then the game remains 1-0 for St. Louis. Instead, Schwartz was trying to swat the puck away from a streaking Stars player and it backfired since it fluttered off his stick and in.

In soccer it would be called an own-goal. Regardless, it came at a poor time and stung.

Not only did it tie the game, but gave up a shorthanded goal. The Blues did not lead the NHL in shorthanded goals against in 2018-19, but they allowed more than their fair share (7). Even if it is accidental, it is not good to give up a shorthanded goal against so early in the season.

In addition, it continued to show how ineffective the team’s power play is. They might look improved in terms of puck movement, but the bottom line is the fact they have not gotten the job done other than that first goal against Washington.

It is still early in the season, but the shorthanded goal against was just the culmination of something that has been a problem for years.

Pros: Sammy Blais

Speaking of early in the season, you do not want to get too high or low on any one player’s performance. That said, it is hard not to be impressed by Blais through two games of the year.

Blais has continued everything he did in the playoffs and also added the offensive spark we felt he would be capable of. Blais now has two goals and three points in just two games. In addition, they have been big goals.

Against Washington, his score put the team up by a score of 1-0. Against Dallas, he assisted on the first goal with a slick pass through traffic and then scored the game winner.

Now, the game winner might not go into his personal highlight reel. Carl Gunnarsson took the shot and it deflected in off the backside of Blais.

Nevertheless, it goes down as a game winning goal. That is the first game winner of Blais’ NHL career and nobody will care how it went in later on.

Pro/Con: Jordan Binnington

This one is fairly simple. The Blues stayed in the game because of Binnington but he also looked a little off.

On the plus side, Binnington made 27 saves. Many of those saves were high quality or came at key times, mainly when the Blues were down 2-1 and struggling to stay within striking distance.

That is exactly what you want from your goaltender. If you have not done the best to help him out, either offensively or defensively, you need him to keep bailing you out until you get your offensive sea legs under you and Binnington did that.

However, to call things as one sees them, Binnington struggled with rebound control. The first goal of the game could have been avoided if Binnington did not let one sneak through his elbow.

There were several times throughout the game that Binnington was pulled out of the crease. That was one of the biggest complaints against Jake Allen over the years, so hopefully that will not be an ongoing thing.

Cons: Jamie Benn

For those unaware, I am unliked among Stars fans. There is even a petition floating around to remove me from writing in general.

The reason for all that is because of my habit of calling out Jamie Benn for his garbage play. On the ice, the guy is scum.

He embellishes things, which we saw in the 2019 playoffs and was repeatedly called out for by announcers on both TV and radio. So, this is not just something seen by myself.

The petition issue started when I accused Benn of embellishing a spear, acting like he had been shot. My problem with Benn, which we saw in portions in this game, is he whines and falls just as much as anyone accuses Sydney Crosby but turns around and gives everyone the business after the whistle.

At the end of this game, he purposely went after Binnington, continuing to show his “quality”. Stars fans will point out Benn was pushed, and he was.  However, you can see him reach out for Binnington’s head as he landed.  This is not the first time he has done this sort of thing late in the game.

A couple seasons ago, Benn infamously sat on Alex Pietrangelo. That sparked a discussion as to whether Petro was worthy of being captain, but the focus should have been on Benn.

I rarely join in the ridiculous discussion about missing this guy or that. However, in situations like Benn going after the Blues goaltender, I truly wish the Blues still had someone like Tony Twist or Ryan Reaves.

Overview

Personal biases aside, this was a big win. Dallas showed they are going to be a handful for the Blues and the division the rest of the year.

However, sometimes getting that early win can be a big mental boost. The more wins the Blues can rack up against the Stars, the more you get into their heads and make them think something is always going to happen to deny them a win.

The Blues smartly challenged the Stars third goal and got rewarded for it and that plays into that mind game too. Then, the Blues finally came back to life in the third period.

St. Louis won 16 of 27 third period faceoffs, which put them in a solid spot to get those two goals. They also started to close down the defensive gaps that we have seen at parts of these two early games.

It is still not the prettiest of wins, but two points is nothing you will ever turn down. The Blues gutted this one out and hopefully they can get on a little bit of a roll now.