That was a pretty brutal loss for the St. Louis Blues at the hands of the Minnesota Wild yesterday. Five goals against, zero for, and the season started on the wrong foot. Granted, there may be some growing pains: the Blues added a few major pieces over the summer in Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad. While those two seem like they'll generally be in-depth roles, there's still chemistry to be built amongst players, and that could take time. Suter and Bjugstad, to their credit, are veteran players; they've changed teams and coaches a few times in their careers, and should be given the benefit of the doubt that they'll figure it out. After all, they have before.
The same cannot be said for another summer addition, though: Logan Mailloux, who came to St. Louis in return for Zack Bolduc (who's fitting in quite well with the Montreal Canadiens). At the moment, Mailloux is playing on a pair with Tyler Tucker, who's spent most of his professional career in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Playing Mailloux and Tucker together is risky, and last night the Blues got burned for it. Mailloux is a rookie, and yesterday was just his ninth NHL game; Tucker, despite having nearly a hundred NHL games under his belt, is by no means a veteran NHL defenseman. They finished the night with a +/- of -2, and allowed far too many scoring chances in close to the net. If that continues for the rest of the season, they could prove to be the weakest link on an otherwise solid Blues roster.
It's too early to make reactionary judgments and lineup decisions, though. One bad game does not sink a season, and it's possible it will just take some time for Tucker and Mailloux to find some chemistry together. However, that pair is something to keep an eye on: will head coach Jim Montgomery grow weary of them getting scored on and switch up the pairs? Or will he give them space to figure it out? After last night's performance, the Mailloux-Tucker pair could wind up a short-lived experiment.