The St. Louis Blues are definitely having a rough go of things in 2021. After a decent start, injuries kept piling up and now the team’s cohesion is almost non-existent.
The biggest thing facing the Blues is what to fix. It’s never quite the same thing night to night.
Some nights, the goaltending is off and there is a softy, or two, let in. That kills team momentum.
Other nights, the turnovers in the defensive zone are the problem. The lack of clean zone exits and poor decisions are mind boggling at times.
However, while the inconsistency is problematic around the entire team, there is one consistency over the last stretch of games to end March and begin April. The only consistent is that the offense is not getting the job done.
Heading into an early-April matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights, the Blues offense has been particularly putrid. The Blues have scored two or fewer goals in nine of their last 10 games.
That’s just not good enough.
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There is no doubt that the Blues have issues elsewhere. Jordan Binnington is a shell of his 2019 form. While it is unfair to compare that season to any other, Binnington just looks off, either mentally or physically.
The defense has it’s own issues. If they don’t clear the zone, all sorts of bad things happen.
The team did lose a good amount of savvy veteran play with the guys that retired or left, and got injured in the case of Colton Parayko. However, the defense is doing a better job than you’d expect given the fact only two defenders remain on the current active roster from the 2019 Stanley Cup team.
In the team’s last two games against the Colorado Avalanche, they allowed five goals. That’s not fantastic, but considering how good Colorado can be, that’s still winning hockey, especially if you keep them to two goals.
You have to be able to score though. Even the best defenses in the league are not going to consistently keep teams to one goal or less. That’s what the Blues would have had to do to win those nine games previously mentioned.
We are to the point where pucks have to start going in. You cannot only use the eye test.
Jaden Schwartz is doing nothing. He has two points, both assists, since returning from injury. He has two goals through 22 games played.
Schwartz has not scored since January 26. That was the seventh game of the season. He’s not alone though.
Jordan Kyrou scored two goals on a three-point night on March 20th. He did not even register a point in the three previous games, nor the six following. Nine out of 10 games with no point is not getting it done, even if you got two in one.
Brayden Schenn has not scored a goal in 11 games (as of April 5) and only has one goal in 14. He has two assists in his last 10 games.
Vladimir Tarasenko has actually looked quite good since returning from injury. The shoulder is healthy and he has two goals in 13 games, which is more than his counterparts. Still, the first one was a lucky bounce and he’s come up empty.
It almost goes without saying that Mike Hoffman has been a disappointment.
For all the mistakes fans see him make that are out of character, Ryan O’Reilly is the only guy that’s managed to score lately. He has three goals in his last five, but all five games were losses because nobody else is chipping in.
Torey Krug is a different player than the former captain. Justin Faulk is not as chippy as Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko is not as steady as Jay Bouwmeester.
All that, plus the goalie issue is true. Again, you cannot expect to get shutouts every other night and only allow one or two all the others.
The offense has to do more. This team might not be built to get five goals a night, but two or less is not acceptable either.