St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 20 At Columbus

Good or bad, the St. Louis Blues continue to find themselves in games the entire way. Unfortunately, they continue to fail at closing them out too.

The Blues came out strong against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfortunately for them, they failed to get on the board first.

The Blues were playing decent hockey to start the game, but once Columbus snuck a goal in, the Blues seemed to unravel a little. Of course, St. Louis is too structured to completely shut down, but they were not playing like themselves either.

The Blues were fortunate to tie things up as they scored with under a minute left in the first period. Even then, it did not seem to spark them enough.

The Blues had a little more energy in the second period and they cleaned up their turnovers. However, a power play goal midway through would not be enough.

An early third period goal for Columbus would hold up the entire third period and it would be another overtime game. Sadly, it would be another OT game where mistake cost them.

Ultimately, the Blues got an undeserved point and used up more energy. That was not exactly the plan going in, knowing they have a game tomorrow night.

Cons: First period sloppiness

This one is a bit odd because the Blues actually started the game off pretty well. The majority of the period was not good however.

In the moments leading up to the goal and then just about the entire period after, the Blues were just sloppy and slow. They were not clicking on passes and gave the puck away a lot.

The Blues had 13 giveaways in the game and there were quite a few in the first period. If the stats actually say 13 giveaways, the turnovers, as fans think of them, might be twice as much.

The only reason the Blues even scored in the first period was because they took advantage of a turnover. The goal should never have gone in as it was a bad goal for the Columbus goaltender to give up, but it did.

Overall, it was just a bad game really. Even though it was in the second period, Chris Kerber made the comment that this was just not a good game for both teams.

You’re going to have games where you are off or the opponent is just better. When you’re playing an opponent that is not good and not playing lights out and you still fail to jump on them, then it’s an issue.

Pros: Jake Allen

Sadly, without even looking, I know the narrative of this game for some out there is going to be it’s Jake Allen‘s fault. It is simply a fact of life anymore that Allen is the cause of everything wrong in all our lives just by his existence.

The reality of it is Allen is the only reason the Blues even got a point. Fans will want to focus on the Blue Jackets second goal and it was not the best.

The Blues could have cleared it out. Vince Dunn might have been stronger on the stick check. Things could have gone differently.

They didn’t and the goal went in. How many more could have gone in due to turnovers or shoddy defending?

I would not say the Blue Jackets outplayed the Blues, but they had the lion’s share of the chances. Allen kept the Blues in this game as long as he could.

He was under siege for long stretches in the third period. Columbus had a total of 39 shots on goal and close to 20 of those were grade-A chances.

The amount of shots that came from in close was not conducive to winning a game. Unfortunately, as well as Allen played, the narrative will be about one goal and the fact he lost. Nevermind the Blues got a point based on his play alone.

Cons: Failing to finish them off

If we are going to be fair here, the truth of the matter is Allen should have had the Blue Jackets’ second goal. It was not a hard shot and came from in close enough that Allen should have had almost all the angles covered.

That said, the overall fact the Blues continue to fail at closing out their opponents is becoming worrisome. St. Louis has given up a two-goal lead five times in 20 games. They did not give up a two-goal lead here, but they failed to protect a lead.

That is another problem with the Blues at the moment. As much talent as they have, they cannot put their foot on anyone’s throat.

Once the Blues score a power play goal to take a 2-1 lead, they should have put their foot on the gas and got a third and fourth goal. Instead, they just kind of coasted through the rest of the game, got to overtime and still couldn’t get it done.

The team was sloppy, careless and slow looking at times. All that played a part in them being unable to finish things off

Cons: Too many men in OT

For the second game in a row, the Blues took a too many men penalty in overtime. These bench minors are bad at any point in the game, but it is inexcusable in a three-on-three scenario.

I realize it might be oversimplification, but you have to keep things as simple as possible in the ridiculous system the NHL uses in overtime. You can change on the fly in regulation because there are more moving parts and pucks getting dumped in etc.

In overtime, there is no excuse to jump onto the ice until the player you are replacing has come out. The one against Arizona was worse since two guys jumped on for one off. At least the Columbus penalty was one for one, but it still came a long time before the player was going to get to the bench.

We get it. You are hungry to get into the play and keep the flow going. This was about as bad a scenario as you could get.

Not only did this negate a Blues power play, which was fairly inept but getting shots off, but it would give the Blue Jackets the winning goal.

St. Louis actually did a good job of killing off most of the power play. However, with that much space on the ice, it is impossible to defend everything and Columbus got a one-timer for the win.

There was nothing Allen could have done about it, but he should never have been put in that scenario. It would be one thing if it was an effort penalty, but for it to be something so preventable just chaps your rear.

Overview

We wanted to believe this was not going to happen or was delayed, but the loss of Alex Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko is now showing up. Two goals a game is not going to cut it and that’s about what the Blues have been scoring.

They had two regulation goals against Calgary, two goals against Arizona and two goals against Columbus. Even their win over Edmonton, they really only had three goals as those last two were empty net goals en route to a 5-2 win in that one.

The offense was humming earlier in the season, even with some of the injuries. Now, everything seems like a struggle.

Another worrying thing is the Blues seem to be getting by with a lot. There have been so many games, like this one, where the Blues had little business even being in the contest, let alone winning and yet they are.

For awhile, it looked like the Blues might squeak this one out too even if they did not deserve it. They shouldn’t have had their first goal. They relied on Allen far too much and made mental mistakes time after time.

The passing for the entire game was not great, but was horrendous at times. Yet, the Blues still steal a point from this one and had an opportunity to get both.

You kind of wonder if the overtimes are catching up to them as well. St. Louis is constantly talking about energy management, but they lead the league with 10 overtime games. Literally half their games have gone to overtime at this point.

It is just one loss and all that, but the things that bother us are starting to become a more regular thing. I was not for calling up Klim Kostin or using him during this call up, but at this point, they might simply need the energy.

We will find out tomorrow as the turnaround is short with Anaheim waiting for the Blues in St. Louis.