The St. Louis Blues came into their game against the Anaheim Ducks on a two-game win streak. It was, sadly, only the second time all year they'd won back-to-back.
With that in mind, it was good to see them come out strong. Even though they struggled to hit the net in the first few minutes, the Blues were the better team and looked sharper.
That started to change with an Oskar Sundqvist high-sticking penalty. The Blues killed it off, but the Ducks started feeling better, and they also scored the first goal of the game. I rarely blame the goalie, but Jordan Binnington didn't seem ready for a shot from the left boards, and it beat him short side when it seemed like he had the angle covered.
The Blues wasted little time evening things up. On the next shift, the Blues had some good pressure and won the puck near the attacking blue line. A quick pass found Robert Thomas, who danced free to the bottom of the circle, fed it across the crease to Jordan Kyrou, who kicked it and then deflected it off his stick to tie it 1-1.
The tie lasted just over three minutes. Pavel Mintyukov got open on the right and beat Binnington to the blocker side to make it 2-1. Jim Montgomery was not happy, pulled Binnington, and Binnington matched the frustration by yelling at the coach when he got to the bench.
Joel Hofer had to make a couple of good saves as the Ducks tried to get an early insurance goal. On the other side, the Blues tried to get themselves back into it, but Kyrou got denied on the doorstep with a right-toe save. It kept being a bit of a mess when the Blues took an icing when they were on a strong breakout. They also drew a penalty with 37 seconds left, but it went to the locker room 2-1 Ducks.
The second period was a mess, but ultimately a whole lot of nothing. The Blues' power play continued to cost them as they went 0-2 in the period.
Sundqvist had a really poor game, too. He eliminated his own power play with a slashing penalty early in the period. He also had a turnover later in the period that almost led directly to a goal.
St. Louis should have tied it late in the period. They had several rush-ins and a couple of backdoor plays, but either passed it too much or had a puck roll/bounce at just the wrong time to where they couldn't connect. Still, even though the stats said the chances were about the same, the Blues were outshot 10-4 in the period, showing they continued to struggle finding the net and forcing saves.
It continued to be a weird night about four minutes into the third. Pavel Buchnevich had a good look towards the goal, but toe-picked and fell forward with the puck just trickling to the goalie.
All the missed chances cost St. Louis about six minutes in. The Blues had two chances to clear, didn't, and a shot from the point got tipped in front for a 3-1 Ducks lead.
St. Louis had yet another power play to give them a chance to get back in the game, but despite getting great looks, they didn't get anything out of it. More chances, but next to no shots mean nothing.
Anaheim gave the Blues every opportunity they could want as they took another penalty with about nine minutes left. The Blues did get one on net this time around, but came up empty for the sixth time in the game.
When St. Louis pulled the goalie, they had even more chances. Buchnevich got a one-timer in the slot and got stopped by Husso. Colton Parayko had a slapper in the circle that got blocked. The Blues also set up two backdoors and fanned on the shot.
The Ducks added an empty net goal and won 4-1.
Con: Power play
0-6. Need I say more?
Oh, well, you also had six power plays and didn't even get one shot per power play. It wasn't even like they didn't create chances, but they couldn't hit the blasted net.
They fanned on shots, missed the net, and couldn't connect on passes either. It was a monstrosity, especially given the fact that the Ducks were more than willing to go into the box so many times.
Pro: Hofer
The only real reason the game stayed close until the end was Joel Hofer. He did allow one goal, but finished the game with 19 saves on 20 shots.
He came up gigantic for his team in the second period. That scramble in front led to about three quality shots that Hofer had to either disrupt or make a big save.
Maybe the FanDuel staff knew something since Hofer was in the pregame graphic even though he wasn't starting. He looked sharp either way.
Con: 11 forwards
Coaches always have various reasons for going with the 11 forwards and seven defenseman. The bottom line is that, even when the Blues were good and won the game, they just don't look as good or comfortable with 11 forwards.
If they had some true top-line guys that benefited from more ice time, maybe it would be different. This team is more about the unit instead of the sum of its parts. They looked out of sorts, not having a clue where anyone was during key moments.
This was forced on them due to injuries, and the weather preventing their AHL call-up from making it. Nevertheless, the Blues just never looked right once the game really settled in and you could see the lines thrown into the blender.
Overview:
This was an incredibly odd game, but no surprise during an incredibly odd season. Just when you felt like the team was turning a corner, they lost three, key forwards.
Pius Suter was already dealing with a muscle injury. Then they lose Jimmy Snuggerud to a wrist surgery when I don't even remember him suffering an injury in the game, and Alexey Toropchenko somehow got severe, scalding burns on his legs. Torpo can be replaced, but losing both Snuggy and Suter really impacted the flow of the offense.
We can say they needed to have a next-man-up mentality, but when you find out all this news on one day, it's harder to adjust. Even the seventh defenseman was a wasted roster spot since the Blues played Tyler Tucker in about five shifts overall.
It didn't help things that Jordan Binnington didn't get off to a good start. The first shot was deflected by his own teammate, but I still don't even understand how it snuck past him. The second shot was just a good shot, but his body language didn't look good.
Everything was just off. Guys were falling down, open shots were fanned on, and passes that could have set something up were missed.
Robert Thomas is a talent for sure, but he's far too mopey. You can't force a guy to be a leader, but he just doesn't seem to be able to be that guy who can put the team on his shoulders.
If this loss were in a vacuum, it would be whatever. The Ducks didn't outplay the Blues, but they took advantage of their chances.
The power play could not score against one of the worst penalty kills in the league, and that had an immeasurable impact on the game. Perhaps the Blues will look better with 12 forwards and a better understanding of their lineup in the next game. This loss can't snowball the way things did earlier in the year.