The St. Louis Blues came into Montreal atop the Central Division and one of the hotter teams in the league. Montreal was determined to not lose their second home game in a row.
The St. Louis Blues came into this game as one of the hotter teams in the NHL, or so we let ourselves believe. The truth is, and deep down we all knew it, the Blues were living on borrowed time.
Win or lose, St. Louis had not really played their best hockey to this point. They had managed to get by on skill at some points and will at others.
Both of those somewhat ran out in their game in Montreal. The Blues finally let all their mistakes do them in.
St. Louis has prided itself on being a defensive team and that is how they won the Stanley Cup. However, defense has been leaky at best in these first few games and this one was no different.
The first period against the Canadiens was very similar to the one in Ottawa except the Blues had more energy. It did not matter as Montreal struck first.
St. Louis had a poor bounce and a failure to clear the net and the Canadiens put one in. The Blues would answer about five minutes later, but it would not even be a full 60 seconds before the Habs reclaimed the lead.
It looked as though the second period would belong to the Blues as they rattled off two goals, including one on the power play. However, Montreal would tie it up late in the period and then rattle off three more goals in the third period.
It was just an odd night. Statistically, there was not much wrong with the Blues other than the number of goals against.
However, you could see this building the entire time. From game to game and period to period, you could just feel this sort of result coming.
Cons: Giving up the first goal again
It is a matter of fact in sports that sometimes the other team will get the first run, goal, point, bucket, whatever. Overall, the Blues have been pretty good in this aspect to date.
Of the first five games played, the Blues scored first in three of those. However, the recent trend is going the other way.
After dominating the early portions of those previous games, the Blues have been very lackluster and ineffective in the first period in Ottawa and Montreal. It has taken them too long to get their legs under them and twice it cost them a goal.
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The first goal given up here was a mix of luck for the Canadiens and lax play. It was a bouncing puck off a faceoff, that was going to be difficult for anyone.
However, there just seemed no urgency from anyone in white. The Blues all just seemed to watch, figuring either the goaltender would cover it or Carl Gunnarsson would swat it away. Instead, Jonathan Drouin gave some tennis lessons and whacked it out of midair into the net.
It is going to happen across the season. The Blues will not always score first. When you are not quite yourselves yet, however, you cannot be playing catch up. The mentality of St. Louis seems to be energy conservation right now and having to come from behind is the opposite of that.
Pros: Brayden Schenn and Sammy Blais continuing hot streak
We are beginning to enter the point where you have to wonder where the Blues would be if they did not have the services of Brayden Schenn and Sammy Blais. The two of them have been leading this team as if by force.
Entering this game, Blais and Schenn had combined for five out of the team’s 14 goals. They added one more each against the Canadiens.
Schenn’s goal was another snipe. After taking the pass from the right circle, Schenn glided into the slot and ripped one off the post and in.
Blais was another pure effort goal. He stickhandled into the zone, got a shot off, picked up his own rebound and then shoveled in a goal from a bad angle.
Schenn would also get an assist on the power play goal that, at the time, put the Blues ahead 3-2.
The team might not have gotten the win, but it was definitely not because of these two.
Cons: Defense
We have seen games where there were a lot of bad individual performances and I would not classify this as one of those. However, when you allow five goals against, your defense is not getting the job done as a unit.
Old mistakes are popping back up. On the goal that tied it up at three goals apiece, the Blues were screening their own goaltender.
On several of the other goals, there were defensive breakdowns. The Blues were constantly letting guys get into the soft areas, like the crease or along the back door without any notice.
The Canadiens almost scored on a backdoor play before they eventually gained the lead on the wraparound. While Jordan Binnington needed to make that save, there was nobody really around to put pressure on before it even got to that point.
The Blues were credited 26 hits, but there was not enough at the right time. The Blues just did not do enough to get the Canadiens off their game.
Pros: More battle back
It might be a little bit of a reach since you lost the game, but the Blues continue to not give up. In so many games where the Blues were not on their game in 2018-19, especially early on, once they fell behind they just gave up.
That has not been the case so far in 2019-20. The Blues have been in several spots where things could have gotten away from them and instead, they found a way to battle back.
This game in Montreal got away at the end, especially with the empty net goal. However, the Blues were still in the game until late.
That was due to the Blues continuing to fight. What is scary is that the Blues have been so off to start the year and have still found ways to keep themselves alive.
As mentioned, much of that is due to Blais and Schenn. If you could get the rest of your top line involved, the team would really get on a role.
While you are waiting on that, it is still good to have the want there. The skill and the legs are not quite where they need to be yet, but the Blues clearly still want to show other teams they are the ones you have to knock off the mountain.
Overview
You can look at this game in one of two ways. On one hand, the Blues were hardly at their best and still slipped in three goals and gave themselves an opportunity to win if they had been more on their game.
On the other hand, this was coming for awhile. St. Louis could have easily lost to Dallas, Toronto and Ottawa. We would be signing a far different tune if they had too.
Still, the reality is that this was the first time they had actually lost in regulation. Also on the plus side, it was a nonconference game, so it is not as though anyone gained a lot of ground on you.
The worries are that the team is not defending well right now. They are slowly starting to creep back into that phase where players end up out of position because they are trying to make up for other players being out of position. The Blues need to nip that in the bud right now.
St. Louis also needs other guys to step up soon. It is great to get guys like Blais and Schenn off to a good start, but every player goes through a cold streak. You need someone else to get going before that happens.
Also, the team needs to help out their goaltenders more. The defense has not been awful, but when your goaltender allows five goals and still makes 31 saves, you’re allowing the other team to have too much space, time and chances.
At this stage, I am not too worried about this result. What does worry me is the continuation of certain mistakes.
The rest of the league is not going to wait for the Blues to right themselves.