The St. Louis Blues lost to the Boston Bruins on home ice, 5-2, on Tuesday night. Head coach Jim Montgomery cannot buy a win against his former team, as he has now dropped both games against the Bruins, both by a score of 5-2.
There are three big things to take away from the matchup, and it could have everlasting implications over the next two weeks.
Hofer looked great in loss
As this season goes along, the Blues are going to have to make a bunch of big decisions about the finale of this season and the direction they need to go in when the season is over. It depends on the next two months, prior to the Olympics, to see where this team is at.
One of the untouchables right now should be backup goaltender Joel Hofer, who has been fantastic in his last four starts. His only lowlight was this previous game against Boston, losing the game on four goals allowed on 30 shots. The eye test painted a bigger picture, as Hofer was dancing all night to stop a ton of high-quality scoring chances.
Home ice woes continue
With this 5-2 defeat on home ice, the Blues now fall to 5-7-4 on home ice. This has been a growing issue this season, and with four of their next five games at home, it could become a lingering problem.
The Blues have 25 games remaining at home and 26 games on the road. That is a nice even split, but it means nothing to nobody if this team cannot compete on home ice.
Buchnevich is heating up
Now with eight points in his last 10 games, Pavel Buchnevich is finding his stride at the time he is needed most. With key injuries to Jordan Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud plaguing the top six forward group, there needs to be an increased contribution from the rest of the core group.
Buchnevich looked very lost and confused to start the year, and it seemed like he would not get it together. But that has not been the case, as No. 89 has been one of the more consistent figures for the Blues. We even got to see some fire in his eyes as he battled against the Bruins' trouble-maker, Nikita Zadorov. The two were jawing with each other all night in the 5-2 loss, and every whistle ensued with some after-party scrums stemming from the two opposing players.