In their last meeting, the Blues got put out by the Nashville Predators with a score of 7-2. The Blues lost on all fronts in a terrible game against another struggling team, making the loss sting even worse. Is there more hope for this bout against their divisional foe?
A new look
The Blues have the chance to erase old sins with their play against the Nashville Predators tonight. They got embarrassed in their first meeting with not much to show for it, and need to prove they can play at a higher level than their opponents tonight.
In their last meeting, Steven Stamkos stole the night with four goals of his own. This doubled his season total, bringing it to 8 on the year. Stamkos had been struggling and not scoring much against opposing netminders, but against the Blues, he pulled together four goals in quick succession.
This highlighted the issue that has plagued the Blues all season: goaltending and defense. Giving up too many quick chances in front of the net and the porous goaltending have been the Blues' Achilles heel.
The goaltending has to be better. For a few games, it looked promising, but on the whole, it has not been good enough, and the last couple of games seem to show that it is regressing back to the negative norms. If the Blues want to have a chance tonight, they can't let a player like Stamkos at this point in his career put up over a hat trick in a single night.
To do so, they will be relying on their top guys to lead the charge. Robert Thomas has 6 points in his last four games and seems to be back in mid-season form. It perhaps isn't the 100-point pace fans were hoping for, but he is playing well over PPG once again. Jake Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, and Jordan Kyrou all lead the team in goals, and fans should expect either Neighbours or Kyrou to step it up in a big divisional game and put one in tonight.
Injuries galore
The other hurdle for this team to jump is whether they can stay healthy. Recently, the Blues announced that Dylan Holloway is set to miss 6 weeks of time, yet another blow to the Blues' hopes this season.
This is a huge loss for the team, as previously mentioned, he was leading the way in scoring. Replacing Holloway's efficiency will not be easy, but someone will have to step up and prove themselves through these trying times.
Holloway isn't the only loss for the team right now. The Blues are desperately missing their bolt of electricity, Jimmy Snuggerud. The rookie phenom has been one of the most galvanizing and productive players on the ice this season, and going without him for an extended period of time will lead to further challenges.
Furthermore, the Blues are missing one more important piece of their depth inNathan Walker. He plays important 4th line minutes that aren't so simple to replace, meaning the Blues are facing injuries on every level of their depth.
The Blues have a big challenge in front of them tonight against Nashville. A win would be a gutsy, team-defining moment that shows us their resolve, but a loss means this team is probably just too far behind. It is only up to them to show us what they're made of.