St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 47 Vs. Anaheim

The St. Louis Blues have been road warriors in the past, getting the most out of their trips away. Now, they are building a fortress around the Enterprise Center

The St. Louis Blues, as most fans know, have not always been the best home team. Of course, some years were better than others, but they struggled to defend their home ice on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. St. Louis won most of their games in Boston during the Final.

2019-20 seems to be a bit different. Clearly, as the top team in the league as of January 13, 2020, they have a decent road record, but the Enterprise Center is finally the home ice advantage Blues fans always dreamed it would be.

Fan support is at an all-time high, which winning will help with. Some nights are still buzzing more than others, but gone are the nights where the crickets were chirping even when the team was playing well.

St. Louis came into their second home game of the year against Anaheim riding a three-game winning streak and an eight-game home winning streak. Things were not always comfortable, but the Blues left little doubt about the result.

St. Louis got on the board fairly quickly in the game. The Blues got a good shot off from the top of the circle that was deflected, but the save was made. Alex Steen came down the far wing and slapped it home from a bad angle to give the Blues the lead.

The fact that Anaheim would tie the game was not surprising, but how it went in was. The puck bounced around some legs, came right to the Ducks and then three players in front screened the goaltender who had no idea the shot had even been taken.

Fortunately, instead of sucking the life out of the building, the fans responded well for the team in the second period. The team responded for them, punching in a goal after a nice tic-tac-toe pass thread from the team’s third line.

About seven minutes after that goal, the Blues really solidified their lead. The Blues power play remained pretty hot, scoring on a four-on-three man advantage, which somewhat makes it more confusing they cannot score five-on-three, but I digress.

The Ducks would be given plenty of opportunity to get back into the game. With the score still 3-1 and the game somewhat in the balance, the Blues took back-to-back penalties.

Fortunately, the special teams kept doing their job and bailed the team out. After that, the Blues would be the beneficiaries of some buffoonery as the Ducks goalie and defender collided and Ivan Barbashev tucked the puck into an empty net for a 4-1 lead.

That would be the final score as the Blues won their ninth straight game at home, tying a club record.

Cons: The Ducks First Goal

When I first saw this goal, even as a Jake Allen supporter, I wondered what the heck the Snake was doing. He barely moved until the puck was already behind him.

Upon seeing the replay, there was not much he could do. He had no idea the shot was even taken until he saw the puck whiz by him.

Beyond the shot, it was a lucky goal in other ways. Namely, how the puck even got to the shooter.

St. Louis probably should have cleared it on the first wrap around the boards. Even if you discount that, Robert Bortuzzo has a chance to send the puck down the ice too.

More from Bleedin' Blue

Unfortunately for him, his clearing shot hits right off the shin pad of Zach Sanford. Sanford was a better goalie than he anticipated, but his rebound control was lacking.

The puck went right to Max Comtois. Niko Mikkola and Sanford both clogged the lane as well as one of the Anaheim players. If we think one player can usually put up a good screen, try seeing past three.

Given how the game transpired, it’s a nothing play. However, it could have been deflating, especially when live fans can’t or don’t see the replay as much to see the screens and only see Jake’s reaction.

Pros: More Fantastic Blues Passing

The only drawback of the Blues getting very adept at finding one another with great passes is the team gets too comfortable with that and passes up good shots. However, when they are passing like they have in recent games, including this one, how can you blame them.

The Blues had two goals that were just marvelous in terms of finding the open man. The first one, finished off by Tyler Bozak, finished off a great play where the Blues made the Ducks pay for a sloppy turnover.

Robert Thomas made the steal. It seemed like it was a fanned pass more than the pressure, but he was in position, which is the main thing. Thomas drops it to Mackenzie MacEacher, who quickly finds Bozak on the wing and he buries it.

That was an example of passes that made all the sense in the world. Thomas could not shoot because there was a defender slashing at him. MacEachern could have shot, but with two bodies in front, the margin for error was slim.

A quick pass to Bozak for a one-timer was the best option.

The team’s third goal was just a beauty all over.

Ryan O’Reilly does what he does by winning the faceoff. Jaden Schwartz then seals his man off to allow Alex Pietrangelo to come up from the point and gain the puck.

Pietrangelo found a wide open Brayden Schenn on the right circle. Instead of shooting over the diving defender, Schenn went across the seam for a tap-in by Schwartz. Just like you draw it up, eh coach?

Cons: Perron

Get the phone lines going. Trade David Perron now. He’s gone ice cold, so get the bag of pucks for him while you can.

Clearly that is tongue-in-cheek, but it was slightly surprising to see him not register a point. Perron had scored a goal in four straight and had six points in those games.

It was not for lack of trying. Perron was tied for the team lead with four shots on goal.

However, the lack of offense was not actually the problem. The problem might have stemmed from frustration over the lack of offense, but the real issue was Perron’s penalties.

Perron gave the Ducks two power plays, taking back-to-back penalties. The only reason Anaheim did not have three power plays from Perron is that they were given a matching minor on Perron’s unsportsmanlike penalty in the second.

The first one was just either lazy or boneheaded. Perron put his stick right in the hip area of his opponent, who was going nowhere anyway. Those are always going to be called and easy to see.

The second one was a bit of a weak call with a little embellishment. Even so, you just got out of the box and poor stick placement allowed the referee to make a decision, which he did.

It was just sort of an off night for Perron. We have seen worse penalties and less done on offense. It was just a bummer given how well he had played. The fact his entire line was a minus-1 and did not generate a point added to the disappointment.

Pros: The Snake And The Finn

Most of the time a goaltender is not going to get a ton of notice if they only face 21 shots. The Blues have given up close to that in some periods, so in an entire game it seems a little mundane.

However, Allen came up with some key saves at all the right moments. When the game was still tight early, Allen made some big stops.

While not pounded with shots, he made good saves on the Blues penalty kill as well. He was voted as the number one star of the game due to his poise and solid netminding.

Speaking of the penalty kill, Mikkola was a pleasant surprise on that unit. The big Finnish rookie might not normally have featured on the PK, but since the team had a little cushion and they were defending back-to-back penalties, Mikkola provided a boost.

He gave some rest to key penalty killers like Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. If Craig Berube did not have confidence in Mikkola, they would have had to put Petro and Bouw out on the PK for three to four minutes. Instead, they could rest for the home stretch.

When everyone is healthy, Mikkola will almost surely be the odd man out. However, we have seen enough from him in this stretch to think he gives them options later on.

Overview

It was kind of an odd game, overall. The Blues dominated the scoreline, but you did not really feel they were dominating the game in every aspect.

However, this is how games against lower teams should be. You should not have to pour every ounce of effort into the game and still lose or eek out a win.

The Blues put in just enough effort and got timely plays to have a comfortable win. The only main issue was giving the Ducks too many opportunities at life.

Yes, St. Louis had a two goal lead, but you cannot be taking penalties that can get your opponent back into a game. The fact they were both silly penalties compounds things. The only other real drawback was the Blues getting a little loose and allowing the game to go zone to zone too much just prior to the Anaheim goal.

The Blues goals were all solid, except the weird fourth goal. Let’s look at it again, just for a laugh.

What was nice was the game was comfortable enough to spread things out. Pietrangelo had over 23 minutes of ice time, but only two other skaters were in the 20’s.

The ice time was quite evened out because Berube had trust in his players and the game dictated it was alright. Everyone had double-digit numbers in ice time.

Even the fourth line guys all had 12 minutes or more. Not bad when some games they are lucky to get eight minutes.

The Blues have one more home game in this homestand. They will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday before heading back onto the road.