St. Louis Blues: A Look Ahead 2 Weeks In November

The St. Louis Blues kick off a new month tonight, at home, with the Columbus Blue Jackets. I started to think, dangerous I know, why don’t I put my money where my mouth is and breakdown the schedule with some predictions.

You can expect to see this article at the very beginning of each month and around the midway point. What I will do is take a look at the two weeks ahead and layout the outlook. I’ll give the potential scores for each game as well as an overview of the record for the two weeks.

Most of my projections are based on gut feeling with a little analytical data support. I won’t go into the analytics much as that would make this article too large to read. I’m going to take each game, list it out with a predicted end score and two to four lines on what to expect during the game.

These predictions will at times seem bold and may arise controversy. At least that’s my hope. Most of you who have read my stuff so far in the early going seem to like my approach and I hope that this will entertain and even entice some more discussions at the bottom. If you have anything you would like to see particularly in this article the next time I’m always ton for suggestions.

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Enough about the why. Let’s take a look at the month of November. The Blues are looking at a 15 game month starting tonight.

15 games in a month is pretty standard in the NHL so nothing alarming about that with the heaviest coming the last week of November.  It all ends in a back to back set in Dallas and then home against Pittsburgh.

Nov. 1st- Columbus Blue Jackets  End Score- Blues 4-1

The Columbus Blue Jackets come into Enterprise Center still trying to find their identity. After losing Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin, the Jackets have been hovering at the .500 mark. They play a physical style and should be a fun matchup to watch. Goaltending has been leaky and offense is tough to come by with them. That being said, I believe the Blues grind it out in a game they like to play and Sammy Blais gets two goals, with Vince Dunn and Oskar Sundqvist getting one goal apiece.

Nov. 2nd- @ Minnesota Wild    End Score- Wild 4-2

After the Wild visited here on the tail end of a back to back they will be looking for revenge in their barn. The Wild, like the Blue Jackets, are searching for offense. They win at home right now and play a little tighter defensively at home. I see Jake Allen getting the start in this one as he seemed to be better on the road last season. The Blues just aren’t the same team with the Snake in goal.

Nov. 5th- @ Vancouver Canucks   End Score- Canucks 3-1

The Canucks are rolling right now and there is no reason in their schedule, leading up to this game, that they will slow. The Blues will get some chances.  Robert Thomas will have the brunt of them and I’m hoping he shoots the puck with those opportunities. I don’t see him doing that as he seems to be looking for the pass every time right now. Bozak will get the lone goal for the Blues, but Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser will win the day.

Nov. 6th- @ Edmonton Oilers  End Score- Blues 4-2

The Blues get back in the win column on a back to back night as they seem to do. They have a knack for shutting down elite scorers and, after failing to do so in Vancouver, they will stifle Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly will be doing their best impression of the duo and combine for two goals while Colton Parayko and Brayden Schenn will take the other two tallies.

Nov. 9th- @ Calgary Flames End Score- Blues 3-0

Sammy Blais continues to hold the top line position and rewards the Chief for keeping the faith with another goal. He is shooting more frequently now as getting more and more comfortable with Jaden Schwartz and Schenn. Binnington does his best Miikka Kiprusoff circa 2006 impression and snags the shutout with some dazzling saves in this one as he will be tested by a Flames team searching for some consistency in their offense.

Nov. 12th- Arizona Coyotes End Score- Blues 2-1

Back home against a defensively stifling Arizona Coyotes, this will be a chess match of which defense cracks first and who makes the most mistakes. The neutral zone will be worse than I-70 West in St. Charles at rush hour. Expect a low scoring affair with tight checking and defense. The Blues offense is built for this and will create a few more mistakes by Arizona than their offense will create by ours. Ivan Barbashev and Mackenzie MacEachern will be the goal scorers for the Blues.

Nov. 15th- @ Columbus Blue Jackets End Score- Blues 4-0

Heading into Columbus after two days of rest, the Blues will be firing on all cylinders and will dominate the Jackets who still haven’t found where their consistent offense will come from. Robert Thomas notches a goal and Alex Steen gets two goals with Schenn rounding out the scoring. Jake Allen, yes Jake the Snake, will get the shutout.

Nov 16th- Anaheim Ducks  End Score Ducks 2-0

John Gibson continues to shine this season and the Ducks get the upper hand in this one. The Blues outshoot the Ducks, but John Gibson is too good this day and Jordan Binnington takes the loss.

After two weeks with three back to back sets the Blues will come out with a 5-3-0 record. Pretty good considering five of those games are on the road. Sammy Blais will continue to score and hold down the top line fort. Robert Thomas continues to become more and more mindful about shooting first and looking for the pass second in those high danger areas he finds himself skating into so often.

The defense will be stellar and the powerplay will run hot and cold, but look like a consistent powerplay. The seven games to end the month look tougher and we’ll get to those later.  Can’t wait to see the games!

Drop the puck!