The St. Louis Blues dropped another overtime game, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Thursday. It was another heartbreaker, and a 2-1 lead given up in the third period.
There are more questions now than ever, and this team is as much of a true wildcard as it can be. Let's talk about whether this team is actually improving or not.
Are they improving?
That is really the big question, isn’t it? Is this Blues team getting any better as they are losing? Looking at how this season has gone, with a seven-game losing streak that included a stretch in which they allowed five or more goals in four straight games, it can’t be getting any worse.
The Blues are getting healthier, with the return of Robert Thomas and now the return of Jake Neighbours. This is about as good as this lineup is going to look. Dalibor Dvorsky is holding his own and, subsequently, may have earned his spot with the NHL club by moving down Alexander Texier.
Back-to-back overtime losses hurt, but it is two points out of four, and anything helps when you are scraping the bottom of the League standings.
How easily can they start to slide again?
With this Blues team, at any moment, it can become dire. It is just the state of the NHL, as every team has a solid chance at winning hockey games. Puck bounces, freak injuries, and confidence can dictate any game.
It won’t be a single loss, or another overtime or shootout loss that would devastate this team. But another two or three losses on this road trip might sink the season.
Things have looked better as of late, but they are not the same team as they were last season. That is abundantly clear.