The St. Louis Blues were unable to get the upper hand on the Boston Bruins, losing 5-2. Stop me where you heard that before, as it was the same kind of defeat as last week.
Trying to get a different outcome, head coach Jim Montgomery went with backup goaltender Joel Hofer this time around, to no avail. But, there is no denying that the last four games have shown a significant improvement for No. 30 in net.
Should Hofer be considered untouchable?
This season has seen 30 games of underwhelming hockey, but the Blues still remain just two points out of the second wild card spot. This leaves General Manager Doug Armstrong with quite the decision to make as we roll through Christmas and into the impending Olympic Games in February.
If things continue to go south and strides toward matching Utah for that second wild card spot are not met, should this team decide to sell for next season? Who is untouchable if that were to happen, and who is guaranteed to be moved?
Hofer should be one of the players who is untouchable, due to his potential ceiling as the next Blues starting goaltender of the future, and his recent success over his last four starts. He has stopped 104 of his previous 110 shots, beating both Ottawa and Utah and holding his own after Jordan Binnington was quickly pulled against the Anaheim Ducks.
Against Boston, he stopped 26 of 30 shots, and had an xGoals Against of 4.289. Hofer was peppered with 10 medium shot attempts and seven high-danger attempts, and he allowed two medium attempts and one high-danger goal against. That is a valid start in my book.
This team needs to secure goaltending as the younger group starts to mature in front of them. Logan Mailloux, as raw and undeveloped as he is right now, will not be like that forever, and the young forwards will use this experience of filling in for the injured to let it catapult their potential.
Hofer is another young piece of this team at 25 years old. The best could be yet to come for him, and that can also be said for Love Harenstam, as he prepares to make his big splash at the World Juniors for Team Sweden.