The St. Louis Blues were hoping a little home cooking would fix what ailed them after a deflating loss in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the Toronto Maple Leafs had other ideas.
The St. Louis Blues have shown their resilience throughout the first quarter of the 2019-20 season. They had failed to lose back-to-back games in regulation.
St. Louis had lost more than two games in a row prior to this. However, they had always managed to get a point out of one or two, despite a loss.
That came to an end with the Toronto Maple Leafs in town.
The Blues played well in the first five minutes or so, but the Leafs got on the board first. Unfortunately, it was a semi-soft goal and came as a result of a turnover too.
St. Louis wouldn’t waste much time evening things up as they tied the game less than two minutes after that. A little more than two minutes after that, the Leafs regained the lead and they would never relinquish it.
Toronto would add three more goals. They got two on the power play and a shorthanded goal as well.
The Blues actually had the better of the offensive play for the last part of the second period and the third as well. However, that did not translate into goals as they only mustered one more score at 2:02 of the third.
The odd thing was the Blues never played terribly. They just were not on their toes enough and made too many mistakes.
The game was not really a 5-2 beatdown, but 5-2 was the score.
Cons: Trying to match the Leafs
One of the big problems from this game – the first period in particular – was the Blues trying to play the Leafs’ style. That is not a good recipe for success when a quarter of your team was injured prior to this and another quarter got hurt at some point in the game.
The Blues style is to control the defensive zone and limit chances and space from the start and then get their offensive game rolling. It was not quite a defense is optional game, but St. Louis was trying to be cute and play the Leafs way.
Any time an opponent can get their counterpart to play their style instead, they already have a tactical advantage. We saw that with the Blues in the playoffs, forcing teams out of their comfort zone. Toronto accomplished that in this game.
The Blues were trying to match skill and speed and it was too close to a track meet in the first period. Before St. Louis could make any adjustments, the game was already 3-1.
Trying to be something you’re not forces mistakes. A turnover led directly to the first goal against and careless play led to some of the other goals.
The Blues needed to focus on keeping Toronto in check for awhile. That did not happen and St. Louis was playing catch up the rest of the way.
Pros: Allen
This was not the Chicago Blackhawks and Jake Allen did not get a shutout. He did play quite well and gave his team every opportunity to come back. It just was not in the cards.
For the first time since the Stanley Cup playoffs, Allen was asked to come in to relieve his counter part. If he is not quite used to being a backup, he is even less aware of how it feels to be the guy coming in cold off the bench.
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Nevertheless, Jake the Snake did quite well. He was a calming influence on the Blues and allowed them to settle into the game a little better, despite being down 4-1 at that point.
Allen ended up making 16 saves on 17 shots. He also stopped two shorthanded shots.
The only goal Allen gave up was a lucky bounce and a top-notch finish. Auston Matthews knocked the thing out of midair two feet from goal after it bounced off someone in front and then bounded right back toward the side of the goal.
It was a great finish, but that shot could easily have gone wide or high or Matthews could have whiffed completely. It was just, on this night, the bounces went the Leafs way.
Allen would rather his team had won and he not gotten to play. Nevertheless, he made the most of the situation and continued his good run of form, regardless of the final outcome.
Cons: Binnington
I do not put this game solely at the feet of Jordan Binnington. There were plenty of things that could have gone differently in front of him to deny some of the chances before he even faced a shot.
That said, this was not his finest game in a Blues uniform. He would be the first to say that.
The first goal against is a tough one. It was not a shot where he absolutely had to make that save.
However, 99 times out of 100, he would have had that save. It was a one-time shot and Binnington got over well enough, but his body was turned in a way that allowed it to ricochet off him and in.
The second goal was one he normally would have had as well. Binnington was partially screened as the shot went through the legs of Justin Faulk, but there was not a trail of steam behind the shot and it was just another one we have become accustomed to him stopping.
Nothing Binnington could do about the third. It was a 2-on-0 shorthanded goal.
The fourth goal was similar. You’d like Binnington to make the stop since he got a piece of it, but he had no clue where that puck was.
Regardless, this just was not his night. He looked a little rattled at times, which is not something we are accustomed to seeing. It does not mean he’s in for a slump, but it means the superman is human after all.
Cons: Turnovers
Again, I will never get the NHL’s version of a statistical turnover. The Blues only had five giveaways in the game according to the final box score.
That said, their turnovers were killers. They gave the puck away in the neutral zone, which led to the partial break and score for Toronto’s first goal.
The turnover for the shorthanded goal was the worst. The Blues got bumped out of the zone and then had their heads up their rear from then on.
Clearly, David Perron‘s intention was to send the puck back to the near side for Alex Pietrangelo. However, whether he fanned on it or just misjuged the speed of the pass, it was never going to get there even if there were not two Leafs breathing down his neck.
It was a careless play, forced by other poor passes and weak board battles prior to that. It is bad enough to give up a shorthanded goal, but to have it come from a 2-on-0 break is somewhat embarrassing.
The Blues were doing this too much. Clearly, not all of them turned into goals against, but the Blues were just too careless in key areas all night long.
Overview
This game is pretty much a one-off, but it was definitely disappointing to watch. We have become so accustomed to the Blues finding ways to come back after losses, but some of the same mistakes made in Pittsburgh were repeated.
It did the Blues no favors that they lost three different players to injury in this game. Two of them came back, with Zach Sanford being ruled out, but the Blues had to scramble to find line combinations once more. Considering they are already shorthanded, that did them no favors.
It is also jarring to the team itself when their goaltender, the one guy you can count on every night, showed some chinks in the armor and had a bad night. I think the Blues are so used to Binnington bailing them out, that it threw them off their game for him to have some softies go in.
Offensively, it just took them far too long to get going. Despite the first period goal from Ivan Barbashev, the Blues offense really did not show much until the third period.
In the third, the team dominated for decent stretches throughout. Unfortunately, it was too little too late and the Blues could not muster more than the one goal in the third anyway.
Throw this one away because it is one of those games you don’t feel like there will be many learning moments.
The Blues just have to take better care of the puck and not get caught up in an opponent’s style of game.