Emotions were running high for the St. Louis Blues as rumors were swirling about potential trades, players missing from the lineup, and the report that Doug Armstrong told the entire locker room that players would be asked about their movement clauses, and they needed to start pondering the idea. It was bound to affect them as people.
The hope was that it would not affect them as players, but things got off to a bad start against the Seattle Kraken. The Kraken scored just 31 seconds in, and, of course, it had to be former Blue Jaden Schwartz. That just poured salt on a wound that might get deeper over the next couple of days as deals are potentially made.
Thankfully, the Blues didn't wallow. They got right to it. Despite being outshot 5-0 early, St. Louis found themselves.
On a rush up the ice, Logan Mailloux managed to score on a wraparound to make it 1-1 just before the seven-minute mark. That sparked the offense as they ended the period with 14 shots, and Phillip Grubauer had to make several quality saves to keep it even.
Grubauer continued to be hot, stopping some scramble plays early in the second. The Blues still found the next goal, connecting with a nice back-door tip by Dylan Holloway, who just had a hat trick against Seattle last week.
However, the Kraken turned the tables. Despite getting outshot 5-3 in the early going, the Kraken came to life and outshot St. Louis 10-5 overall in the second.
Thankfully, the defense kept most of the chances to the outside. For the others, Joel Hofer was able to at least get a piece.
The Blues helped themselves out by quieting the crowd and the Kraken with an early goal in the third. Brayden Schenn drew a crowd as he cycled toward the right corner and then fired a pass through traffic. It found Rober Thomas near the left hash, and he whipped it back to the glove side to make it 3-1 93 seconds into the frame.
It wasn't as though Seattle was without chances, but the odd thing was the overall confidence the Blues played with. They spent most of the middle portion of the period denying the Kraken almost everything through the neutral zone, which is a spot where the Blues have often been weak this year.
St. Louis killed off a mid-period penalty, but they started bending too much. They eventually cracked with a little over six minutes left as they lost track of Vince Dunn, who settled into the slot and scored on a one-timer to make it 3-2.
As calm as the Blues were earlier, they started crapping their pants late. Justin Faulk scooped the puck out of play to put the Kraken on the power play with just over two minutes left.
Hofer made several quality saves, including a couple of glove saves to kill off the penalty. A faceoff that left the Blues zone ended up winning the game by a 3-2 final.
Pro: Hofer
The way the game went for a good portion, it seemed like it would be a somewhat easy night for Hofer. The Blues were doing a good job of keeping the Kraken at bay, and he was making the stops you expected.
However, when Seattle was on, they were getting everything through, and Hofer had to be sharp. That can be hard when you're not facing steady pressure, but he kept his eyes on the prize.
Hofer was the Blues' best penalty killer. The saves he made late in the game were definitely a big reason the team held on for the win.
Con: Special teams
This one applies to the game overall, not just the Blues. While the Kraken had some good looks on the final power play of the game, overall, neither power play really accomplished much.
I'm not taking away anything from either goalie, but overall, there just weren't that many grade-A chances. The Blues' power play has been decent of late, but it looked more like the early-season power play than anything just before or after the Olympics.
Credit to the Blues penalty kill for killing off at least parts of four penalties, but even then, the Seattle man advantage was pretty blah.
Pro: Keeping focus
Although the Blues likely would have been at the building by the time the Colton Parayko trade got reported, it's probable that the players still heard about it. Even if he stayed at the team hotel, these things get out.
With that in mind, over the course of 60 minutes, the Blues did a great job of keeping it together. Knowing they've possibly lost the longest current tenured defenseman, St. Louis managed to keep composure.
They had a built-in excuse, especially after that early Seattle goal. Instead, they refocused and took the game to Seattle and got rewarded for it.
I've lost coworkers that I really liked and, sometimes, it can almost feel like a mini-breakup. So, losing someone who's probably as close as family has to hit even harder. Kudos to the team for finding a way to focus on the game.
Overview:
This wasn't one of those wins that you write home about. It wasn't the best win of the year, and the Blues didn't look like world beaters.
However, they did look like the better team for much of the game. They deserved to win the game, even if they made those of us who stayed up to watch it sweat far too much.
There are still bone-headed plays being made, and it's head-scratching that they can clog up the neutral zone so well against a potential playoff team and then look like Swiss cheese in other games. Nevertheless, they showed they're capable when they're playing their game.
Even though they only had 18 hits, the Blues were still fairly physical in this game. They were battling for pucks with determination instead of just going to areas because they knew they were supposed to.
Hofer did bail them out plenty of times, but this was one of those games where you just wonder why it couldn't be like this the rest of the season. The bottom line is that they didn't play that way earlier, and now the team will probably be quite different for the next game.
At least they had success in this one. It makes staying up to watch it more palatable.