The St. Louis Blues hoped to close out a disappointing road trip with a strong performance in Dallas against the Stars. While they sort of accomplished that, the end result was no different.
The opening stages of the game seemed destined for disaster. The Blues didn't even get a shot on goal until there was less than nine minutes left in the period.
Additionally, they put the second-best power play in the league on the ice early in the game. Jordan Binnington made the initial save, but there was nobody even close to take the man or play the puck as Wyatt Johnston cashed in on the rebound to make it 1-0.
St. Louis accomplished a rare feat, though. A little less than six minutes later, they got a power play of their own.
Johnston helped the Blues out by taking the penalty. Some solid passing quickly found Dalibor Dvorsky on the circle for a slap shot. The goal was briefly credited to Jordan Kyrou on a potential deflection, but ultimately changed back to Dvorsky's goal. His eighth of the season tied it 1-1. Despite a relatively poor period, it remained tied heading into the second.
Even though the second period has been the Blues' worst all season, they have turned that around in the last couple of games. The Blues were the better team in the second period, but unfortunately, that didn't have a full impact.
We saw it initially. St. Louis took the lead just 4:05 into the middle frame.
A one-touch pass from Jake Neighbours on the goal line sent the puck back towards the right circle. Pavel Buchnevich connected on the one-timer to give him nine goals on the year and a 2-1 lead for St. Louis.
That lasted less than four minutes as Dallas tied things on the power play. The penalty kill just allowed the Stars to take the blue line with no fight, kept backing off, and Johnston found Matt Duchene on the left wing for the goal.
St. Louis kept shooting themselves in the foot as they took three more penalties after that one. The Blues did kill all those off to keep it a tie game into intermission, but it's hard to press any advantage or get a goal to answer when you're killing penalties for almost half the period.
The Blues, statistically, did what they needed to do in the third period. They outshot them 10-4, had more possession, more dangerous chances, and it felt like they were destined to at least get a point out of this game.
As they have all season, the Blues found a way to lose. Panic set in late, and the Blues took two consecutive icings.
Dvorsky was stuck on the ice, and he's the team's most inexperienced center. He lost the second faceoff, Philip Broberg didn't win the puck battle with Jason Robertson, and then flat-footed Colton Parayko could do nothing but reach for a vain poke check on the Robertson goal over Binnington's shoulder. With Robertson that close, there's really nothing Binnington could do, but he'll get blamed anyway.
Overall, it was a winnable game, and St. Louis was the better team for most of the game. When you can't get finishers to finish, and mistakes always cost you, the Blues find ways to drop points.
Pro: Buchnevich
They gave him the third star of the game, and it was deserved. He finished the game with a goal and two points.
When you have a team struggling for offense, you have to lean on the guys who have done it before. Buch has proven he can't be leaned on earlier this season, but we're seeing flashes of the guy you could lean on.
He's got nine goals this season, which isn't enough, but is also just a couple of the team lead. He's struggled with five-on-five scoring and got his goal at even strength.
There are still things you'd like him doing more consistently, but if he can get his own game going and drag some teammates with him in the process, the contract extension won't look quite so bad.
Con: Special teams...again
On the plus side, the Blues did get a power play goal. It was an important goal at an important time when they needed to tie things up.
You can't live on one goal, though. The power play was 1-3 and had the only power play of the third period when things were still tied. Score there, and it's a different ending.
Similarly, you could say the Blues' penalty kill did a pretty decent job. They killed three consecutive penalties at the tail end of the second period.
You have to acknowledge that they allowed two consecutive power play goals against, though. In a game that was lost by one goal, if you keep either of those off the board, it's the difference.
Overview:
This is about what we've come to expect from this year's Blues. Whether they don't even show up for the game or actually play better than their opponent, they're still likely to come out on the short end of things.
They outshot Dallas and still only came up with two goals. They defended reasonably well, but still can't get the timely support to get Binnington a win.
The high-danger chances were there, and the Blues played better and more consistently as the game went on. They didn't have a goal in the final 35:55 of the game.
There's just not enough this season. We're seeing glimpses, but not enough.
Players like Dvorsky and Snuggerud (though not Snuggy in this game) are giving us reasons to be excited for the future. But, they haven't found a way to come up with that big moment late in tie games or in one-goal deficits yet.
There's talent there and talent in the pipeline, so I don't want to hear this garbage about doing a full rebuild. But we have to face the reality that the playoff run in 2024-25 was the exception, not the rule.
This roster wasn't as close as we'd hoped. They still need seasoning and will need some offseason tweaks.
The Blues have shown they have the ability to outplay teams like Dallas and Winnipeg, even if the Jets are having a down year in the standings. We're just not going to see those signs of improvement in the record book.