The St. Louis Blues have been an enigma the entirety of the 2025-26 season. For most of the year, it was on the negative side, but now that most have given up on the year, the enigmatic nature of the team has turned for the positive.
Despite being on a four-game road win streak, the Blues had just lost in overtime at home and then had a rather horrendous first period against the Carolina Hurricanes. They were outshot 13-2, and it wasn't really even that close.
The Hurricanes got on the board 8:38 into the first period. With the shots already 9-1, the Blues had two bad turnovers that led to a rush the other way. While Mark Jankowski had a great move to go backhand/forehand for the goal, it was also somewhat embarrassing how he just sliced past two defenders.
Despite the goal given up, Jordan Binnington was a wall. He not only had 12 first-period saves, but many of them were highlight quality. The game could've easily been out of reach after 20 minutes, and Jim Montgomery knew this as he called the team's only timeout roughly halfway through the period.
The intermission seemed to calm things down a bit. The Blues stunned the crowd by tying the game 3:53 into the middle frame. Jimmy Snuggerud returned the favor as he went zone to zone, cut through the defenders, and wired one from the center of the zone but just outside the slot to make it 1-1.
The Hurricanes still had some chances, but the Blues played a reasonably defensive second period. They only allowed eight shots, and Binnington kept it tied into the third.
Despite being the best team in the East, the crowd seemed either shocked to be losing or just uninterested. They did make a little noise when the Canes had a small push, but the goaltending of the Blues just put a wet blanket on all of that.
St. Louis then took the lead with just under five minutes to go. This time, the Blues won some battles in the offensive zone, and the puck came to Snuggerud on the right circle. It was bouncing around, so he just whacked it towards the net, and somehow it snuck under the goalie's blocker for a 2-1 score.
The Hurricanes pulled their goalie with more than two minutes left and pressured a bit, but the Blues were finally playing sound defense and didn't look outmatched. Eventually, a clear led to an odd-man rush, and Pavel Buchnevich finished the game off for a 3-1 win.
Pro: Binnington
Haters gonna hate, but reality is undeniable. The Blues won this game because of Jordan Binnington.
If not for the Blues' goaltender, this game would have been out of reach by three or four goals in the first period. There was a reason Monty called the timeout so early in the game - the team had already allowed one goal and looked ready to call it a night already, and put fans through another Colorado debacle where you give up eight goals.
Instead, Binnington came up with 12 good saves in the first period alone. He finished the game with 31 saves, and these were not really perimeter shots that he just took in the stomach.
Binnington made several backdoor saves, skate saves, pad saves, and one big one where he lunged out and got his left leg on it. It was a goaltending masterclass.
Con: First period
While Binner was great, the Blues were not. You give credit where credit is due in that the Hurricanes are one of the best teams in the league and came into the game with only two fewer wins than the Colorado Avalanche.
If we're looking for a silver lining, the Blues only gave up 13 shots in the first. For as little as they had any pushback offensively, you'd think Carolina would've had 20-plus on net.
Concurrently, the offense was nonexistent. No matter the quality of the opponent, two shots on goal is just putrid.
Pro: Snuggerud
While I don't think he has as high a ceiling, it is hard not to think of Snuggerud as a modern-day Brett Hull right now. 15 goals isn't going to light the world on fire, but he's just got that scoring touch.
He's got moves and speed, but he's not going to dangle around an entire team or blow by everyone. Like Hull, he just finds the right area on the ice and puts the puck on the net.
There's no reason for that second goal to go in, but it did because Snuggerud has the hand skill to knock a bouncing puck into a dangerous area. Then look at his first goal too.
That's a wrist shot from outside the slot, and the goalie had no shot at it. Again, it's way too early for that kind of comparison, but it's something that Hull could do.
Overview:
As I said a couple of games ago, beyond wanting my team to just perform well and learn how to win, I love these games just to bring out the whiny online babies. They decided that a top draft pick was their bahbah, so now they're crying watching it slip away.
Would it be cool to get a top draft pick that has the potential to play right away next year? Sure, it would.
However, as much as hockey players are usually pretty good at being level-headed, I worry that a team that already had locker room issues of some sort could be affected in a negative way by someone who may very well be a prima donna. I'm not even saying there's any word of these prospects being a diva, but it's still a possibility.
I'd rather they just learn how to win, figure out what works best for this current group, and then figure out who the best prospect is when they do draft. Playing for a top pick is a loser's mentality, and I'm glad the current roster isn't taking that into their thoughts.
Now, if we're realists, the Blues didn't exactly dominate on route to their two-goal victory. They could have easily been run out of the building, but they weren't.
They overcame early adversity, found a way to clamp down on the Hurricanes' offense just enough, and then got timely scoring. It wasn't impressive every shift, but it was impressive that they found a way.
The worry is that the shots they did allow were of a very high quality. The positive is that they got great goaltending, which has been the case since the Olympic break ended. The Blues came in with a 1.86 goals against since the break, and that likely dropped after this game.
Oh, by the way. Nobody wants to hear it, and I don't even think it's possible, but based purely on numbers, the Blues are only five points out of a playoff spot. Just saying.