St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2023-24 Game 41 Vs Boston

The St. Louis Blues have not had an easy run of things to open up 2024. They've had to face a gauntlet of teams from the top of the Eastern Conference.

They faced another at the midway point of the season in the Boston Bruins. Things didn't get off to the best of starts as the Bruins opened up the scoring just over five minutes into the game.

Jordan Binnington made some unbelievable stops on the initial chances. Unfortunately, too many men ended up below the goal line, giving Brad Marchand time and space on the right side of the zone to roof one for the lead.

Kevin Hayes answered for the Blues about a minute later. Kasperi Kapanen drove in on the right side, circled around the net and found Hayes for a quick snapper and a 1-1 game.

It appeared as though the Blues went up 2-1 shortly after. Unfortunately, Hayes was barely offside on his second goal, which was wiped off the board.

The Blues fell behind again in the second period. They turned it over at the attacking blue line as they were trying to change lines.

This allowed what amounted to a four-on-three the other way as the guys coming off the bench could not react quick enough. Charlie McAvoy was open in the slot and buried it for a 2-1 lead.

However, the Blues power play continued to show promise as Jake Neighbours tied the game about four minutes later. St. Louis got a shot/pass off the right pad, Jordan Kyrou slid it across to Neighbours on the back door and it was 2-2.

Unfortunately, the game continued to ping pong in the third period. The Bruins capitalized on a five-on-three power play to get a 3-2 lead around eight minutes in.

Oskar Sundqvist took a ridiculous interference penalty to make it five-on-three. Brad Marchand finished off an unbelievable pass from David Pastrnak, who all three defenders and the goaltender figured was going to shoot.

The Blues power play bailed them out a second time. This time Sunny made up for things getting a great deflection on a Scott Perunovich shot and we were all knotted up again.

St. Louis earned a point by going to overtime. However, the refs handed the point back to Boston.

They failed to call one of the most obvious tripping calls you will ever see. Without Robert Thomas in the play, the Bruins came in two-on-one and McAvoy buried it for a 4-3 win.

Con: Missed/Blown call in OT

I'm one of those that likes to think no one call really decides a game. If you go back and change any one event, you can't completely predict the game flows the same afterwards, so we cannot assume what happens after that.

However, in this instance, I will back off that. The officials blatantly handed a victory to Boston by not calling a trip when Pastrnak's stick upended both skates of Thomas.

We've seen calls 10 times weaker actually made. We have seen guys step on a stick blade and the defender is still called for a trip because they must "be in control of their stick".

So, how is it that Pasta can stand like a statue, with his stick firmly in front of Thomas' skates, then lift the stick as he attempts to pivot and it's suddenly a no-call?

Now, even if that call is made, there's no guarantee the Blues win. They could easily not score on the power play, go to a shootout and still lose. But, you want to see a suddenly hot power play get the chance to win it.

Instead, an odd-man rush ends the game and robs the Blues of even a remote opportunity.

Pro: Power play

I honestly cannot remember the last time I considered the power play a true positive for this team. Even in the game against the Rangers, I think it was such a shock to get those goals that it felt like karma for all that fans have had to deal with.

In this game, we actually got a taste of how the power play can truly affect games. Essentially, the Blues only earned a point in this game because of their man advantage. When could we ever say that?

For two games in a row, the power play has not only scored, but scored in key moments. The Blues had to tie the game three times to get to overtime and two of those came on the power play.

They weren't fluke goals either. They were hard-nosed, effort goals, where the Blues worked the defenders into bad positions and capitalized.

Neighbours is just a fantastic find for the Blues. You almost never see guys his age go to the front of the net, but he's on the power play only because he will actually go to the front of the net.

Sundqvist needed that power play goal. It wasn't only to justify his spot on the PP, but to also make up for his bone-headed penalty too.

Overview:

This game was an odd tale of differing styles, and I don't really mean between the two teams.

On the one hand, you had lackluster play and bad decisions from the Blues. The penalties taken, the timing of a turnover with a line change and the failure to mark by some of the back checkers cost the Blues in this contest.

On the other hand, you have to like the fact the Blues continually came back. So many other times in the season we would have seen Boston go up by two, maybe three, and then the game get out of hand when the Blues had to press.

Instead, the Blues answered each and every time until it was stripped away from them in overtime. It's sour to talk of anything resembling a morale victory, but the Blues have let so many of these games slip away without a point, that gaining at least a point is important.

It would have been much better to get the win. The Western Conference is starting to pull away, so the Blues' margin for error gets thinner with every game.

Still, gaining another point to keep them within striking distance is important. The playoffs aren't a pipe dream right now and, until they are, the Blues have to scratch and claw for every point they can.