The St. Louis Blues were winners of six of their prior seven and had a win streak going on the road. Coming into Winnipeg, however, the Blues were also faced with the fact that they'd only won six divisional games all year.
Things didn't get off to a great start. The Jets scored off their very first shot of the game.
The defense got sucked in, and a little drop pass left the man wide open on the left of the slot to beat Jordan Binnington over the blocker. He will undoubtedly say he needed to have it, but wide-open shots from close range are still harder to react to than most people think.
Almost immediately after that goal, the Blues took a penalty. Despite their mediocre record, the Jets still have a dangerous power play, but St. Louis was able to kill it off.
About five minutes later, the Blues had a miscue on a drifting puck along the far wall. Cam Fowler thought Pius Suter had it, but he was outbattled by Mark Scheifele. He got a breakaway on the flat-footed Fowler and scored on the backhander to make it 2-0.
Then we had one of the more boring second periods we've seen in a while. There were a combined 10 shots on goal, and the Blues had six, but you didn't feel like they were on the verge of anything.
Each team had a power play, but didn't accomplish anything from it. Other than that, the second went by without a whole lot going on.
The third was more eventful. The Blues came out pretty well and then finally got on the board a little over five minutes in.
It was a great peel back and set up by Jonaten Berggren to find Dalibor Dvorsky on the back door. The Blues were really coming once the game was 2-1.
Not long after, they had a breakaway for Jordan Kyrou. He was stopped by a glove save.
Then Robert Thomas drove the net and was able to find Jimmy Snuggerud in the middle. Snuggy got everything behind the wrister, but raised it too high.
With the Blues threatening and feeling like it was destined to get tied up, Pius Suter took a trip on the forecheck. St. Louis' defense lost track of the extra man off the bench when the goalie went off, so Kyle Connor was sent up the middle on a breakaway of his own, and he snuck it under the right pad to make it 3-1.
It was nearly 4-1 with 4:24 left. The Jets got in behind on a partial odd-man rush and hit the pass to the right wing. Thankfully, Binnington was able to get over, make the save, and hold on.
The Blues pulled the goalie with more than two minutes left, but really couldn't get much set up. A Colton Paraky shot got deflected by Winnipeg and hit Jake Neighbours in the throat, but he seemed ok in the moment.
Despite some discombobulation, the Blues made it interesting late. They were finally able to string some passes together, and Dylan Holloway cashed in as Logan Mailloux's shot fluttered off Holloway's pants and in to make it 3-2.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough. After a late icing, the Jets were still able to tie up the faceoff and seal off the win.
Con: Faceoffs
Outside of Dvorsky, the Blues were pretty bad on the faceoff dot. The rookie was the only player for St. Louis who was over 50% on his draws.
As a team, the Blues won a shade over 37% of their faceoffs. That's pretty bad and leaves you chasing the game almost the entire time.
It seems like such a simple thing that wouldn't have a big impact, but it's like rebounds in basketball. You can win when you don't win that battle, but it's much harder.
You're chasing the puck more of the game and forcing yourself to put in more effort to even get things established in the offensive zone.
Pro: Third line
While nobody had an excellent game, the Blues' third line had a really good performance overall. Like the top line in prior games, it just looked like this trio had a lot of cohesion.
Having Suter on the wing for Dvorsky was reminiscent of how the Blues handled some of the games when Robert Thomas was a rookie and played with Tyler Bozak. The resurgence of Berggren after some hiccups in Detroit has been a pleasant surprise as well.
Berggren has some skill, but what has been good to see is his willingness to get in on the forecheck and battle for pucks. Often, you see some of these waiver wire players be very talented, but not want to put in that extra work.
Dvorsky is going to be great and Suter is nice and steady. It's a good combo.
Con: First period
The Blues have been ready to go for most of their games during this run of strong play. In this one, they were just a little behind the eight ball.
The play that led to the first goal of the game was just disappointing overall. The defensive positioning was ok, but it felt like they fell back a little too much.
Buchnevich was near the back pocket of the shooter, but it felt like he could've been strong on a stick lift attempt. Then, even though it's a hard reaction save for Binner to make, it's a stop you see him make all the time.
No one player shoulders the blame, but it felt like more could've been done by at least three or four players to prevent that.
Then, just overall, the Blues felt like they missed way too many chances to build themselves in that opening 20, even with nine shots. Allowing the quick goal and having to kill off two penalties didn't help.
Overview:
This game was not the best showcase for the Blues, or for NHL hockey, really, but it was emblematic of where the franchise is right now. The effort was there, but not for the entire 60, and the Blues need a full 60 to get the W's.
On the good side, the Blues found a way to get themselves back into the game and didn't give up. They really didn't play that poorly, but it was just an off game for both teams.
Even though the Jets got the win, you didn't feel like they were the better team. That doesn't mean the Blues were that much better either, but they allowed the Jets to play a defensive style once they got ahead.
St. Louis had some push, but never steady enough to really get themselves in it. The third period was really their best period of the game, but that penalty to Suter and the breakaway really ended up being the nail in the coffin.
If that doesn't happen, as Joey Vitale said, the Blues were going to tie it. St. Louis was really starting to click. But things happen, and the Blues weren't able to make the tie happen.
Like the Islanders loss, this was another one where you're disappointed the Blues lost, but we would've killed for losses like this earlier in the year. To still be able to have fun watching even when you're not the victor, that's a positive for fans and for this team.
For fans wanting a better draft position, this was a positive for them, too. Overall, it's just a loss, and you move on. We'll see how it works out in Calgary next.