The St. Louis Blues endured their latest traumatic experience, letting in a last-second goal to a team that would eventually beat them. Much like the first-round knockout blow in game seven against Winnipeg last season, the Seattle Kraken stole the victory away on Saturday night.
What would have been the game-winning goal, Jordan Kyrou took his healthy scratch against Buffalo personally. Head coach Jim Montgomery challenged No. 25 to be better and issued a fair warning to the rest of this lineup that if results aren't met, someone is sitting.
Kyrou was the first of likely many to endure that kind of punishment, and it paid off when he was inserted back in. How good was his performance, and can he keep it up?
Was a menace on the ice
From the first shift, you could see a big difference in Kyrou. He was constantly doing the little things, like applying pressure on the forecheck from miles away of the puck carrier, forcing a turnover and the first goal of the night by Dylan Holloway.
He attacked the puck ferociously. You could tell he was not pleased with his trip to the press box, and Kyrou certainly made his presence known against Seattle. He led the team with four shots on goal in 16 minutes of ice time.
Never getting benched again?
After that devastating loss to Seattle, there is a good chance that. Nobody gets benched from it. Fans should be pleased with this group for the first 59 minutes of the game, but of course, the last minute counted.
For Kyrou, if he can play like that for the rest of the season, there is a great chance the Blues will not try to move on from him or bench him again for performance issues. But if he starts to cool down or takes his foot off the gas at all, Montgomery will use him as an example once again. Primarily, because the Blues can win a hockey game without him in the lineup.
Can Kyrou keep this going and stay out of the press box?