The St. Louis Blues finished up their preseason slate with a 1-3-0 record. It was an interesting trial period, as the team went from fringe NHLers and prospects to the real deal in under 12 periods of play.
Inside those 12 periods, the Blues had quite a few chances on the power play. But they joined Minnesota and Dallas as one of the only three teams to put up a goose egg with the man advantage. The Blues were also the worst of the three teams, at 0-18.
The penalty kill has been so much better, but unfortunately not perfect. They stopped 94.1% of the opposing team's chances, as they went 16-17. This was spearheaded by the duo of Alexey Toropchenko and Pius Suter, who both worked really well on that first unit.
Nothing going thus far
The addition of Mason McTavish was supposed to be the main component of a better power-play unit. He bulked up this offseason, hinting at his effectiveness with the man-advantage in front of the net. That has yet to be the case, as this team is in a serious slump with the conclusion of the preseason.
Of course, growing pains are expected, as the Blues also have a new assistant coach in Vinny Prospal. Prospal is one of the new hires under head coach Jim Montgomery, and all of this newness is going to take a minute to adjust to.
Eventually, this team will get this important part of the game under control. The hope is that it will have been done already, but the sooner, the better to make the power play a positive.
Penalty Kill has been surperior
If there is anything to take away from this preseason regarding the special teams, it is that the penalty kill has been much superior. The main reason is that it is alot like it was last season, with only Brandon Carlo being the newest piece on the second unit.
The Blues' power play has been dwindling over the last five seasons, with last season showing an abysmal 17.6%. That was 24th in the entirety of the NHL.
General Manager Alexander Steen, along with ex-GM Doug Armstrong, went out there and brought in key new additions to fix it, and so far, it still has a long way to go.
The preseason doesn't count, but it is a tease of what's to come. Right now, fans should be worried about the power play, but ecstatic about the penalty kill.
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