The St. Louis Blues were hoping to have a big surge after the 2026 Olympics. While the first couple of games were a bit hit or miss, the team hit a stride immediately before and after the trade deadline.
Given who they gave away, you'd figure the Blues would be more on the downslide. Instead, they've hit somewhat of a groove.
St. Louis continued that against the Anaheim Ducks. The Blues were the better team overall and had plenty of chances in the first period.
St. Louis should have had a goal or two, but their former teammate Ville Husso was keeping them off the board. The Blues finished the first 20 with 13 shots, but had even more chances than that as they hit at least two posts.
The chances got converted in the second period, however. St. Louis disrupted a Ducks push into the zone and got an odd-man rush the other way. Jordan Kyrou showed some selfishness, taking the shot instead of passing and rifled one in to make it 1-0 just over four minutes in.
Less than six minutes later, the Blues had doubled their lead on the power play. Recently acquired Jonathan Drouin scored with a blistering one timer from the right circle to make it 2-0 at 10:07.
The Ducks started getting a push, but Joel Hofer was up to the task. Then Jimmy Snuggerud scored from almost the same spot as Drouin to push the lead to 3-0 at 12:11.
Things got a little chippy as the Ducks took a late five-minute major for boarding. The Blues didn't get the full power play since they called an instigator penalty on the ensuing fight involving Tyler Tucker.
Somewhat due to the power play being cut off by the intermission and somewhat due to poor play, the Blues didn't get anything on the major. In fact, the best chance may have been a shorthanded rush by the Ducks that came up empty.
The Blues had some good pushes in the middle of the third. Neighbours and Thomas were stopped on a jam play, and then a shift later, Dalibor Dvorsky got stoned on a breakaway to keep it a three-goal game.
St. Louis did get another on the board with 7:40 to go. They nearly scored when Snuggerud stole the puck and hit Husso in the shoulder. The Blues got the rebound, and Thomas hit Snuggy on the back door to make it 4-0. However, the Ducks challenged the zone entry for offside and won, so it remained a three-goal game.
The Ducks went for it, pulling the goalie with more than five minutes left. St. Louis should have had a fourth, but Jack Finley sailed it high.
The Blues finally got their fourth with 4:02 left. St. Louis won a board battle on the right of their zone, found Pius Suter in the neutral zone and he scored into the empty net.
Anaheim had a rush with about 70 seconds left, but the Blues continued to show great effort with a back-checking poke from Dylan Holloway to help preserve the shutout. The Blues won 4-0, denying cheap tacos for the locals since they couldn't get their fifth.
Pro: Top line
We always knew the talent was there, but it wasn't coming through for some reason. Over the last few games and also tonight, the Blues' top line looked like a top line.
The combination of Thomas and Snuggerud has been lethal. They finished the night with three points and should have had more.
Snuggerud could've easily scored on the initial chance he had late and then we all thought they did score on a nice, backdoor feed that was called back. They generated plenty of offense throughout the game and have six goals and 12 points the last four games, so hopefully this is building towards next season.
Con: Missed chances
Springboarding off the stuff that did go well for the top line, you can't ignore their missed chances and those of the team overall. This game should have been way out of reach.
The Blues could have, and likely should have had at least five or six goals in this game. Husso made plenty of great saves early, but the Blues couldn't capitalize on several as well.
They hit two posts in the first period, with both seeming fairly shocking that it stayed out. Then they had two rush opportunities in the third that should have scored, but the Blues couldn't get the puck elevated to get it over Husso's pad.
In the end, they won by four, but you'd like them to really develop that killer mentality where the game isn't even in doubt.
Con: Broadcast mistakes
I rarely call out broadcaster mistakes because I also broadcast hockey, and it can be challenging to generate new phrases to use and keep everything straight from brain to mouth. That being said, the Blues broadcasts have been full of weird errors since the Olympic break.
The first game or so, you let it pass. They haven't been speaking in a broadcasting capacity for about three weeks, so you forgive a little rust.
But it's gotten worse, if anything. Tonight was full of strange flubs.
Kerber said Husso's 16th save was his 16th of the year. No big deal, except it's at least the second time he's said year instead of game just in the last handful of games.
Then there's Vitale. He's got personality coming out of all pores, but at times he sounds silly.
The former NHL player didn't remember that you can score as many goals as possible when on a major power play. Then, late in the game, he wasn't sure if Finley's potential goal would've counted since it was a delayed offside. Granted, most fans wouldn't know that rule for sure, but you'd think a former player and current NHL analyst would.
Broadcasting is much more difficult than just sitting there and talking, but these are guys who have been around quite some time at this point. The flubs they're having are becoming habit more than one-offs.
Pro: Drouin
I'm not making it out like Drouin had a great game where he impacted things in all three phases, but getting a goal in your first game with a new team is always a great start. It was a nice way to ingratiate himself with the team and the fans.
I'll be the first to admit that his inclusion in the Brayden Schenn trade was almost a detraction rather than an addition for me. I still remember how he tried to force his way out of Tampa before he had really played a full season yet.
The Blues already had potential issues behind the scenes, so they didn't need that kind of vibe. To his credit, Drouin has been a popular teammate in most of his teams afterward, so hopefully he's learned his lesson.
If nothing else, hopefully, he can have a strong finish to the season for the Blues and maybe he's an attractive trade piece at the draft. Or, they could keep him. Either way, I'm happy to be proven wrong, even if only for one game.
Overview:
The Blues are pissing off a vocal segment of the fan base with every win down the stretch, and I couldn't be happier. I get their argument that if you're going to miss the playoffs, you should want as high a draft pick as possible.
However, I'm too old school. You play to win the game every time you put on the uniform.
Barring a new franchise record win streak, this team is not making the playoffs. But, it's still important that the players who are left to learn how to win again and how much better they feel after wins rather than losses.
Great teams can learn from losing, but teams in the middle or near the bottom need to learn how to win and how consistent effort leads to wins. Even if that's all this current squad is getting, it's a necessary lesson.
Of course, it makes it even more puzzling as to what the difference is now. Sure, there will be questions as to whether the players who left were part of any problems, but I don't think it's as simple as that.
You don't take one or two players off a team and suddenly remember that you have to skate and hit. I think the players left are playing for their jobs because they know more trades could come in the summer and they still want to stay.
As far as this game specifically, it's hard to judge. The Blues played very well, got timely scoring, great goaltending, and saw a consistent effort throughout the game. On the flip side, the Ducks looked more like the pre-Olympic break Blues than a first-place team. So, you have to wonder if the Blues were that good or was Anaheim that bad.
Likely, it was a combination, but we see the Blues more often, so we know how poor they can be, so it's fun to see the opposite. Wins are wins right now, and if there's some online tears by the "tank for (whoever)" crowd, then so much the better.