The St. Louis Blues lost to the Utah Mammoth in a 7-4 thrashing last night, and there are many causes for concern: the stars of the team aren't performing, the goaltending is shaky, and the blue line just can't keep up with the competition. It may be time to start panicking, as the Blues are digging themselves into an early hole in arguably the toughest division in the NHL. For the Blues to have any hope of getting into the playoffs, they're going to need to turn things around quickly.
There was one bright spot last night, though: Oskar Sundqvist showed well in his first game back with the team after missing the start of the season due to injury. Sure, we could've done without the penalties, but putting up two points on a team that has struggled to generate offense is nothing to scoff at.
It's a small sample size (extremely small) but, in that one game against the Mammoth, Sundqvist had a 78.57 CF% and an 84.94 xGF% in 9:22 of 5-on-5 ice time, per Natural Stat Trick. The Blues' top players are underwater by the fancy stats and can't seem to score, either, so having some play driving and scoring results come from the bottom of the lineup while the Blues' stars struggle will be critical to the Blues staying in the playoff race this early in the season.
Sundqvist isn't the savior of the team, but here's hoping he brings some jam to the lineup moving forward and the team gets back on track.