St. Louis Blues Must Solve The Power Play Problems
The Blues have started 2019-20 above .500 and they have managed to get a point in defeat here and there for the standings but late game implosions continue to haunt them. The main cause of these implosions, that the St. Louis Blues need to address, is their power play, or rather their lack of it.
The St. Louis Blues’ power play dilemma is not a one that is exclusive to this year. It appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year and even at times before that. Ordinarily, the power play should be giving the Blues the edge they need because they have the extra man while the other team sits a man or more short. However this is far from the case.
The problem is any time the Blues manage to receive a power play they tend to play conservatively.
They make a bunch of passes. They wait too long for the right time to make a shot. As a result, they waste a lot of time when they could be putting up more shots on goal at a critical moment in the game.
That alone wouldn’t be so bad were it not for the fact that they also give up shorthanded goals to their opposition. Jordan Binnington is tested way more often than he should be on the power play and the tide of the game usually turns for the worse because of it.
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The Blues cannot afford to wait around and hope that the ideal opportunities fall in their laps. They have to be aware that there is only so much time available to get the big goal they need before the game returns to full strength.
If Tyler Bozak or Alex Pietrangelo, or anyone else, can begin to get going on the power play like they started doing in October 14th’s game against the Islanders, the Blues should be in good shape. Consistency is key.
As for the defensive side of the power play unit, the Blues have got to stop making careless giveaways to their opposition. They must play smart defense to help their goalie out.
The worst thing a power play unit can do is spend too much time trying to do a penalty kill unit’s job, despite the numbers. Playing smart defense and cutting down on bad turnovers will help the Blues alleviate those problems immensely.
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Special teams can mean the difference between a cathartic win and a heartbreaking defeat. If the Blues can manage to fix their nagging power play problem then they will be in a good position to take the Central at some point down the road. The overall outlook for the season will be much brighter if they do.