William Nylander's nifty goal with 54 seconds left in OT handed the Blues yet another loss in a season that seems to continue to spiral. However, there were some positive takeaways from this matchup, and they could provide Blues fans with some optimism that this team can still right the ship.
Jordan Binnington Looked Great
It's no secret that goaltending has been the Blues' biggest weakness so far this season, but you wouldn't have known that watching last night. Binnington made big save after big save during the second period to keep the Blues within striking distance long enough for them to tie the game and completely change the momentum of the contest. He followed that up with some more crucial saves in the closing minutes of the game to secure the Blues a point and get them to OT.
Binnington finished the night with a 0.897 save percentage, stopping 26 of 29 shots against. If he can continue to play this way, the wins will come - the question is if the Blues can establish any kind of consistency between the pipes as they desperately need their goaltenders to step up their play considerably. Last night was a great step in the right direction.
The Special Teams Play Was Excellent
The Blues played an excellent game both when down and when up a man. Dalibor Dvorsky's slapshot in the second period tied the game at 2-2 and is what secured the Blues a point in the game. The Blues had two other opportunities on the Power Play, and despite not scoring, they did generate some high-quality chances.
On the opposite side, the Blues had a perfect night on the Penalty Kill. They were able to shut down a two-minute Toronto PP early in the first period, and followed that up by killing a four-minute double minor PP for the Leafs that extended from the end of the first to the start of the second period. This helped the Blues keep the game from getting out of reach early. If the Blues can play this way moving forward, they'll be able to improve their PP and PK stats compared to the rest of the league (8th and 27th respectively). By taking advantage of these opportunities, the Blues can start to dig themselves out of this hole.
Loser Points Add Up
With this loss, the Blues fell to 0-5 in OT games this season, an abysmal stat that can leave fans and players frustrated by the number of points left on the table. On the flip side of this, these OTL points really do add up - the Blues have the same number of points as a team that is 8-11-1 despite losing two more games. This puts St. Louis just six points out of a playoff spot despite losing 14 of their first 20 games.
Obviously, the Blues will need to start winning these close contests if they want any chance of making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but that outcome is still absolutely within reach. How they play in the next few months will decide if the team looks back on these losses thankful for the extra point or angry about how many points were left on the table. Until then, Blues fans need to just trust that the squad can save their season, and based on what we saw last night, that's still a very real possibility.