Once the St. Louis Blues finished off a gritty win over the Chicago Blackhawks, they had to turn their attention to the Nashville Predators, who had creamed them just a few days prior in Nashville. Unfortunately, the Blues got off to their customary poor start.
The Predators scored just 27 seconds into the game. Filip Forsberg got the goal from the left circle once he backed off the crease, and the Blues could not react to the pass.
The Blues were gifted a chance to get something going with a power play just a couple of shifts after that Predators' goal. They got no shots on goal there and barely even crossed the attacking blue line.
Despite not getting their first shot until the period was eight minutes old, St. Louis would score on their second one. Hugh McGing drove the zone, dropped it from the slot to Dalibor Dvorsky near the right hash, and he whipped one back across the blocker side to make it 1-0.
Brayden Schenn got into a fight to get the crowd into it as well, though he likely lost. The Blues didn't make it look great, but they got the 1-1 tie into the intermission.
Things didn't open well in the second period. Nashville held the zone, and Joel Hofer wasn't able to get the pads together on a wraparound, so it was 2-1 just 1:23 in.
Things went from bad to worse when Dvorsky took a delay of game penalty just moments after the Blues killed off an Alexey Toropchenko high stick. Forsberg got his second when he roofed a shot from the right circle over the blocker, and it was 3-1 on the power play goal.
St. Louis took another penalty with about eight and a half left. They did manage to kill it off relatively well, but when your offense is nonexistent, you can't spend most of the period shorthanded.
The second period continued to be the Blues worst of the season as they allowed a goal with 1:15 left. Yet again, there was not enough pressure to get the puck out, and Reid Schaefer just spun at the blue line and chucked one to the net. Hofer wasn't expecting that, and it went over the pad and past the glove to make it 4-1 into the intermission.
The Blues were a tiny bit more active to open the third period. They had four shots on goal in the first five minutes, which was good considering they only had six in the first and six in the second.
St. Louis' best look came about seven minutes in. Robert Thomas had it just slip off his stick on a backhand-forehand move, and then on the pass in front, Mathieu Joseph hit the left post.
The Blues at least made it partially interesting. After some good pressure and a couple of looks, they found Dvorsky on the back door for a power play goal at 8:29 to make it 4-2.
That hope evaporated pretty early. Forsberg got his hat trick at 16:09 when Faulk entered the zone, got his pocket picked by Ryan O'Reilly as Hofer was heading to the bench, and it sprung the break the other way.
Dvorsky nearly had a hat trick of his own when the Blues got a late power play, but couldn't get the bounce. Even if it had gone in, it wouldn't have really mattered, but the score remained the same as the Predators won 5-2.
Con: Second period
This is beyond puzzling and more than frustrating. St. Louis is just a horrible team in the second period, even if they're decent the rest of the game.
If you look at this game alone, the second period was the difference. Each team had one goal in the first and also in the third period. If you take those periods alone, it's a tie game, plus one of the Nashville goals is an empty net goal. In theory, you could say the Blues won two periods if you don't include the empty-netter.
But when you allow three goals on eight shots in the second period and only have three minutes of offensive zone time, you have absolutely no chance to get things done. The Blues are simply trying to get through second periods, which means they have no intention to do anything positive. They're always trying not to lose that period instead of winning it, which means they're always going to lose it.
The book is out on the Blues. Pressure the heck out of them in the second, they'll get gassed because they never have the puck long enough to get clean line changes, and goals go in.
Pro: Dvorsky
Well, when the team only gets two goals, and one guy scores both goals, he's going to be a positive. Even as poor as the Blues have been through this season, I'm glad Dvorsky got the call-up.
He's shown he's ready for the NHL. This isn't a guy that's just slotted in because of injuries alone.
That is how he got his shot, but even if the team was fully healthy, I can't see sending him down any longer. He's got five goals on the season and has proven to be a power play force.
He did score his first-ever regular-strength goal in this game and also added one on the back door. He just knows where to be to find some space.
Con: Hofer
I don't blame Hofer for this loss. The offense isn't doing enough in front of him, and you can't rely on either goalie to keep the opponent to one goal per night.
However, it has to be said that Hofer was not good in this game. Pucks could have been cleared on a couple of goals, but Hofer also needs to stop that wrap-around. He's got to get that right pad across somehow.
The spin goal from the blue line can't go in either. Maybe there was a bit of a screen, and I'll say Hofer had no reason to expect a shot, but you've got to play the game as it is, not as you'd like it. St. Louis has turned it over at their own blue line time after time, so the goalie has to expect it now, and Hofer didn't.
The play of the team was bad, but if the softies don't go in, the scoreline is different, and who knows what happens.
Overview:
There's just enough from this team that we keep saying maybe, but I think we need to realize this is what they are. They're going to be around a .500 team, and they're going to frustrate the hell out of us.
The problem is that there is a clear difference in how hard they fight when things go wrong. When they've won, or even a couple of close losses, the legs are pumping, feet are moving, and they're playing hard on the forecheck.
When things go wrong, as we've seen with so many blowout losses, they just give up. Sure, they're still out there and trying, but you can see the difference. Legs aren't moving as much, there's more gliding, and they're hesitating just that extra moment, and the game is too fast to hesitate.
The goaltending has been fantastic, and it's been mediocre too. Again, when you can't score more than two goals, it's not going to happen. 1-0 and 2-1 scores are not common in today's NHL, and those are the only scores we can win with lately.
This team is just tiring. By the end of the game, they often make the stats just close to even, where you wonder why the score is so bad. But when you watch the game in its entirety, you see how badly they're being beaten in the second period and also at the start of games.
It takes so long for this team to get going, and then if they have a lull, it takes even longer for them to get back into a groove. It's just an inability to have any pushback.
If they go down by two goals, you may as well figure the game is over. I'm not sure what the stats are, but the Blues just don't seem able to come from behind by more than one and have a hard time keeping it that close if they are behind.
I don't see a workaround for this. Trades won't make a difference, and even getting healthy might not make a huge difference.